In Complete Darkness
by nietzsche300
Summary: AU Years after the fall of Sunnydale, Buffy finds out that the vampire that has been haunting her dreams is not only a vampire, but a slayer as well. Now, her and the gang must travel to Boston to find the slayer-vampire
1. Chapter 1

Let me know what you think. Couldn't get this plot out of my head, so I went ahead and posted it.

Chapter One: Vampire of Her Dreams

_Buffy looked around the elegant bar, searching for familiar faces in the dimly lit establishment, but didn't find any. She sighed, turning back to her Long Island Iced Tea to continue twirling the little blue umbrella sticking out of it . It seemed like she had been sitting there forever. Just sitting, waiting, sipping, and twirling, But anything was better than the cold night that awaited outside. _

_She pulled her black jacket a little tighter when the bar door opened, letting in a little bit of the wind that was raging just through the door, but her legs were assaulted making her shiver. If that was what it would mean to leave the bar, then she never wanted to leave it or its warmth. The bar quieted as the figure that had entered the bar took off their long black hooded coat, dropping mists of snow onto the wooden floors, and shaking some out of their hair before hanging the coat on a rack near the door. _

_Buffy took in the sight of the woman, she looked young - too young to be in a bar - her slightly damp hair hanging long in waves over her shoulders. Her long sleeved shirt, also black, as were her jeans, and boots, clung to her tightly, accenting her toned, shapely figure, 'Vampire,' Buffy thought, her muscles tensing, preparing to quickly jump into action, but the vampire didn't start any trouble. _

_She walked over to the bar, casually taking a seat next to the blonde, 'The usual, yeah?' she said, raising a bill in the air for the bartender to grab._

'_Sure thing,' he smiled, heading to a room behind the bar. He returned with a black bottle in hand, placing a glass in front of the dark haired woman, 'Anything else?' he asked, pouring a thick red liquid into the glass._

_Buffy took a sip of her own drink, eyeing the blood being poured into the glass. She knew that stuff like that was going on in the world; that most of the once ordinary bars were now in the business of selling blood to their vampire customers, but she had never actually witnessed it. However, seeing that she wasn't the only one cautiously eying the incomer, she found comfort in knowing that not everyone in the world was such an easy believer in the way things had changed. _

'_I'm good,' the brunette answered, 'Just keep 'em comin.'_

_He sat the bottle on the bar top with a wink, and then went to serve a few other customers. _

_Buffy took another sip of her drink, watching the brunette gulp down all of the blood in the glass out of the corner of her eyes, 'Hungry?' she asked, looking away from the brunette. _

'_Starved,' she wiped the blood off of her lips, sucking on a few fingers to lap up any remaining, 'Why…' she moved into Buffy's space, her mouth suddenly close to the other woman's neck, 'you gonna feed me, slayer?' _

_Almost as fast as the brunette had invaded her space, Buffy grabbed the vampire by the throat, slamming her back onto the bar, and getting to her feet. She ignored the low growl she could feel rumbling beneath her fingers, focusing only on the eyes burning into hers, and the fangs that were now on a full show, without the woman morphing._

_There was a change in the air that made Buffy glance around her. Everyone in the bar now stood on edge, watching in anticipation. They were all vampires. Each one stood with their fangs out, chests unnecessarily heaving, and low growls emitting. _

_But the odds against her didn't phase the slayer at all. She tightened her grip, and turned back to the brunette only to see the same look of anticipation that the other vampires wore. Her own lips curved into a dangerous grin as she reached for the stake inside her jacket. _

The blonde reached for the clock-radio beside her bed, not bothering to lift her head off the pillow as she turned her alarm off. Like she did every morning, she spent a few more minutes in bed before going to the bathroom to start her day. After that she put on some yoga pants and a loose shirt, made her way downstairs for a quick breakfast of fruit and coffee, and then headed out for her morning jog. By the time she got back, the whole castle would be awake. The halls would be full of girls rushing to get to wherever they were supposed to be, or girls hoping to make it to the kitchen before it was so packed that it was hard to move, let alone make a cheese omelet. Her morning run was the only quiet time she had outside of locking herself in her apartment, and as fun and peaceful as that could be, she needed time outside of her place that didn't lead to someone asking her for advice on how to properly block an uppercut.

This time alone aloud her to work through the dreams that were becoming too violent, sexual, and cryptic for her taste. For years, she had had dreams featuring a shadowed figure. Sometimes they'd be across a room, or pinned by her strong hands, or in her bed pinned by her strong hands. But she could never see who they were. Anytime it would seem like things would get a little clearer; that she'd catch a glimpse of their face, the dream would fade away, or suddenly the room would erupt in a frenzied war between vampires, and what Buffy now realized was her army of slayers.

The first slayer that could be identified in her dreams was Kennedy. After stalking the dark figure through an alley way, they had come upon a girl fighting off three vampires. She was ducking, kicking, and launching at each one of them in what seemed to be a panic, but when her long locks stopped swaying with her movements, Buffy saw a strong and determined look on her face with a hint of amusement. The next day, Giles had arrived with the potential slayers at her Sunnydale doorstep, and in walked Kennedy.

Slowly but surely, more and more of the slayers in her dream became faces she could recognize, though never all of them, but the shadowed figure remained just that - a shadow. It wasn't until three months ago that its face became clear, and all the guessing Buffy had done had been shattered. The only thing she had always been able to since was that it was a vampire beside her. A vampire that had something within them that no other vampire she had encountered in her years of slaying had. The air around them was heavy and thick with power, so much so that Buffy's skin always tingled in her dreams. She felt like they were opposite ends of a magnet, fighting hard to keep a distance from one another, but ever more drawn together and curious as to what would happen if they didn't keep a distance.

When the shadow turned out to be a young looking, wavy haired brunette with a set of the darkest brown eyes she had ever seen, Buffy was thrown back. Over the years she had guessed it was Angel, or Spike even at one point, but never a girl who only looked to be about seventeen. Her face had become clear in one of the dreams that were too sexual for Buffy's taste. She was rolling them over so that she was on top of the shadowed figure, and before the shadow itself even became clear, for the first time Buffy's movements became clear to her. She had never really been able to pick out the details before, but this time she noticed her hand slip between them, and strong legs wrapping around her waste. Something in that moment made things click. The figure beneath her was a woman. And then the shadow was no longer a shadow.

Beneath her was a girl with wet wavy hair plastered to her face, her lips slightly parted, fangs descended. There were no wrinkles or creases in her forehead, which Buffy was no longer surprised by because of the world outside of her dreams. The vampire's eyes were barely open, heavy and dark with lust as she stared up into Buffy's eyes. It was a moment Buffy felt all too conscious and aware, like her dream had slipped into a certain reality, and she was really there. She could feel the slick skin beneath her, the fingers of the hand that was once descending now making patterns just above the brunette's sex; she could feel the string of sweat drip down her own back, and hands gripping her shoulders; and she could feel the burning between her thighs. Being all too conscious and aware, she could also feel a panic begin to build within herself. Just as she was about to quickly remove herself from the girl beneath her, the girl placed a soft hand on her cheek, and the dream faded.

Since that dream the figure that was once a shadow was always clearly the teenage vampire and things only grew more intense. The fights were bloodier, the sex raunchier, and what Buffy had thought she could one day figure out on her own became too complicated for her to even begin to wrap her head around. Like the last dream she had, it had been a long time since she and the brunette had seemed to not know one another. It wasn't so rare that they got violent with one another, but it was never to strike and kill, it would always be fighting and then sex. In this dream she had gone as far as reaching for a stake she knew would be in her jacket pocket, and the group of vampires she was used to finding herself fighting in her dreams were instead waiting for her to take action. Whether it was so they could then slaughter her, or pat her on the back in congratulations she did not know, but she knew one thing for sure - Something had changed.

* * *

"Your destiny has arrived, my child."

Faith walked into her apartment, not at all surprised to find her door wide open and her maker helping herself to a glass of blood. Of course, the woman was not alone. At the bar in front of the kitchen was an auburn haired girl, with hanging cross earrings. On the other side of the room leaning on the back of an antique chair, wearing all black as usual, was Paul, a vampire Faith knew very well.

He stood up straight, a small grin upon his lips, and silently walked towards Faith, "Maker," he placed his hands on her elbows, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

"Stop with the _Maker _bullshit," she slid her hands into his, gave them a little squeeze, and then playfully pushed him back. He laughed and went back to stand behind the chair, winking over at the young woman by the bar. Faith simply glanced at the girl, neither smiling nor scowling, and then approached the woman who had made her what she was. A woman slightly shorter than her, wearing a long purple silk dress, and golden wrist cuffs, with her black hair hanging in big curls over pale shoulders, "Mihaela," she kneeled down on one knee, kissed the woman's outstretched hand, and then stood back up.

Mihaela took a sip of blood, her hazel eyes fluttering closed, "Mmm, it's fresh," she said, with a thick Slovenian accent.

"I've got a girl from South Africa," her eyes followed as Mihaela first let the mystery girl at the bar take a sip from the glass, and then Paul before sitting in the chair he was leaning on, "I thought we weren't meeting again until three months from now," Faith said, seeing that the woman was settled.

"Things change," she waved nonchalantly.

Faith sat down on the couch across from the woman, making sure to keep the youngest vampire in the room in her peripherals, "Things having to do with my so called destiny?"

"Despite what you refuse to believe, your part in this world goes beyond stalking through clubs, working a night job, and taking care of your wretched mother," she crossed her legs, "There will be some people coming to you in hopes of finding me, and accessing your current situation - being a slayer and a vampire."

Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Faith turned to growl at the young vampire by the bar, "Are we going to have a problem?" she asked, seeing the frenzied look in the girl's eyes.

"No, you're not," Mihaela met the girl's eyes, "You will not touch her. Control yourself."

The girl nodded, moving to casually lean on the bar as if nothing had happened.

"Forgive her, she's new. Any mention of a slayer and she's trying to rip their head off without a second thought. One of the many reasons Jason sent her to me," she huffed, laughing bitterly, "Idiot. Like it's my job to handle his mistakes," for a moment she sat taking sips of blood, the room falling silent, all eyes on her. Once the glass was empty, she handed it to Paul, who promptly went to clean it and put it back in its place, "Like I was saying, there will be people coming to you looking for information on how to find me, and to make sure that you're on your best behavior and not some raging animal."

"And who are these…people?" Faith asked, picking at a loose string on the couch, "Do you want me to kill them?"

Mihaela laughed, "No, quite the contrary."

"You can't be serious," the girl at the bar sighed.

Mihaela was at the young vampire's side, her fingers gripping her by the mouth, "Silence. I've had enough of your adolescent behavior for a lifetime," after a pause, she laughed, "Well, that's ironic," she returned to the chair, leaving the girl to rub her tender cheeks, "When they come to you, I want you to spend time with them, and if things go accordingly-"

"Which means what exactly?" Faith questioned.

"It means," she stressed, purposely showing that she was going to ignore the interruption, "I want you to be sure that they won't try to kill either one of us when you bring them to me. I know you don't like what you're hearing, because I know you, but I have never lead you into anything without a purpose, and we both know it. No matter how insane things may appear in the beginning, remember me telling you this-If you trust them, tell them anything and everything you know about me, and then bring them to me. They will request that of you right off, but I'm not completely sure of their intentions just yet, so ignore their request. They want to know things about you too, so just stick to that until it looks more promising."

"And if doesn't?"

Before Mihaela could answer, the door was thrown off its hinges. A blur swept through the room, causing a few stray things to move with its current, and Faith was instantly on her feet, catching them mid run by the collar. It was a vampire, a young man with short spiked hair, his eyes bright yellow, and chest heaving. Faith snarled, "Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck do you want?"

Three more figures appeared in the room, two of them standing guard by the door, while the other one - wearing a long black coat, hood pulled to cover their face - walked forward. They held up a single hand, stopping the Paul and Mihaela's other young vampire.

"Mihaela," he said, in a deep rumbling voice, "We need to talk."

* * *

Buffy jogged up to the castle and immediately slowed her pace upon seeing an array of vehicles parked in front of it, that weren't there before she left. Once she spotted Kennedy's, she knew there was business to attend to. The younger slayer had recently sent on a mission to recover hidden files that the old Council had put into hid around the world, most of which they had found out were petty tales of slayers that weren't so cooperative with the uptight overbearing British bunch. But considering the large number of slayers that had obviously returned with Kennedy - they were a special forces team that trained separately and only came together for big assignments - she knew something big had finally been found.

Walking in, she was immediately told that she was expected in the library where Kennedy, Willow and the rest of the special forces team were waiting for her. On the way, she could hear whispers of speculation. All of which had to do with a certain rumored army of vampires that Buffy was more than interested in hearing about herself, but if it were simply about the group of vampires than the whole special forces team wouldn't be at the castle. They'd be wherever the army was, and Buffy would already be on her way be on her way to meet them there, instead of in Willow's study.

"Good, you're back," Willow said, upon Buffy's entrance.

Kennedy, who had been sitting on the corner of her girlfriend's large desk, stood up and instead went to stand by the redhead's side, "You're not going to believe what we found in India."

Before sitting down, Buffy said hi to the rest of the girls, who were quietly standing around the room. The only faces that were completely familiar were Rona's and Vi's, the rest of the slayers were selected after much training, and she had yet to get to know them well seeing that they all lived at opposite corners of the earth.

"I'm hoping that it has to do with supposed army of vampires on the east coast," she said, honestly. At least then she'd get to take them down, and not deal with whatever bigger problem they were obviously about to present to her.

"Well, as you know, I had a bit of one on one time with the a former Council member that we all thought was dead like the rest of them, and he told me about some tomb in India where they had stashed away a few more of the files. This place was guarded by a big ass group of these nasty demons, which I found to be a bit ironic, because the old Council wasn't as friendly as we are to the neutral types, but anyways-"

"There were files on a slayer vampire."

All eyes turned to Vi, who looked down slightly, her face turning red, "Sorry, Ken."

Buffy turned back, "There's a what?" A few months after all the potential had been called, they had wondered about a few vampires that may have been potential before their deaths, and also whether any slayer that had been bitten could be turned, but all roads had lead to it being impossible. Any slayer that was turned came out of their graves as the same old vampires, and they had even managed to track down a few potentials that had been turned and even they were normal vampires, "How's that possible?"

"We're not exactly sure yet, Buffy. But this slayer was turned before we made all the potential slayers into actual slayers. She was apparently called right after Kendra, which would mean that she's the last traditionally called slayer. It could be that because she was called traditionally she somehow possess something within in them that allows them to be turned, and maintain their slayer abilities as well. But like I said, we're not sure."

She looked down at her hands, her mind not seeming to be able to fully process what she was being told, "So you're telling me there's a vampire out there that doesn't only have the strength of a vampire, but the strength of a slayer too?"

"That's exactly what we're telling you," Kennedy nodded, "The files that we picked up say that this girl's watcher was killed by an ancient vampire named Kakistos. A real nasty bastard with cloven hands and feet. She gave him a nasty cut that inevitably left him blind, which is big because, you know - vamps heal. He wasn't so happy about it, but seeing that she was alone and didn't stand a chance against him alone, she took off. A couple months later she went back, dusted him, and then vanished. It wasn't until a few years later that the Council by chance found her, and by then she was a vampire. They tried to catch her of course, so they could kill her, but they never were able to capture her. She's reported to still be somewhere in her hometown, Boston."

The door to the study opened and Dawn walked in, a single file in hand, "I found the photo you wanted of the potential slayer that was reported dead. It's weird, no other slayer was listed as being called after her," she handed the file to Willow, and then looked around the room, "Hey guys," she smiled, "Hey Buffy, how was your jog?"

Buffy was too busy watching as Willow opened the folder, to answer her sister's question. The other woman stared at the photo for longer than it seemed necessary before looking to Buffy with an expression that told the blonde that it was worse than they thought.

"Um," she closed the folder, "Buffy and I need to talk alone for a moment."

Kennedy frowned, "Babe-"

"Everyone out," Willow said, more sternly. She gave Kennedy a sympathetic smile, "I'll fill you in later."

It was obvious that Kennedy wasn't happy with what she was hearing, and neither were a few of the other girls, but instead of continuing to question things, she gave the rest of the slayers a look and they all headed out of the room, "Later," she said, meeting Willow's eyes.

"I get filled in later too, right?" Dawn asked, but seeing the look Buffy gave her, she left quickly.

Willow slid the file to Buffy, who picked it up slowly. Her best friend's behavior was making her more than curious, and worried. Taking a deep, she opened the folder and gasped, almost dropping it. Her heart was racing, palms suddenly sweating, "No."

"Buffy," Willow said, gently, "What do you want to do?"

Swallowing hard, she tore her eyes away from the photograph, "We're going to Boston."

* * *

"So you see, I think it would best if you and your fledglings would stay away from my club tomorrow night. We are trying to keep an image after all."

Faith, who was now seated in the chair Mihaela had once chosen, huffed dramatically, "And who the fuck are you exactly?" she asked the hooded man. Her maker, standing behind her, placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. As much as she wanted to continue mouthing off, and dismissing the fact that whoever was in her apartment was someone of importance, there was no way she could disobey the woman behind her.

"Forgive her, she's very protective," the woman smiled, "But, I'm wondering the same thing. As you know, I am much older than you, and more powerful. I do not appreciate you following me first of all, and I especially don't appreciate you walking into my child's home without so much as a knock," she paused, giving a slight shrug, "It's just rude."

Paul gave a low growl from his place next to the auburn haired vampire, who was obviously trying hard not to attack the intruders. They had both been standing quietly by the bar, their eyes glued to the unwanted guests.

The first vampire that had suddenly burst into the room stood from the couch, challenging Mihaela, but the hooded figure was obviously in charge and when he gave low hiss, the weaker vampire stopped in his tracks.

"She isn't lying when she says she's much older than I, don't make the mistake of attacking her," he walked forward, getting closer to Mihaela and Faith, "It was your human birthday recently, wasn't it?"

"It was," she grinned, rubbing a hand just above one of Faith's breasts, "And I quite enjoyed myself."

Faith moved a hand to cover her maker's, noticing that the robed figure followed its path, "So did I," she grinned.

He laughed, "Heed my warning, Slovenian. Or you and your children will regret it," he lifted a finger towards Faith, "Especially this one. There is something different about her. Something that makes me think….she'd be a tasty treat."

This time it was the oldest vampire in the room that growled, "Leave this place, or I will kill you were you stand."

"And there would be hundreds rushing to avenge my death," he spat. They stared at one another for a moment, before he sighed, "But I will leave. I will know if you step foot in my establishment tomorrow night, and if there is any trouble, in case you are dumb enough to ignore what I am saying to you, then you will be killed. And I will feast on your pet here. Let's go."

In a split second, the intruders were gone. Paul growled more dramatically, slamming his hand on the bar, while the other young vampire began to pace the room clenching and unclenching her fists, "I wanted to rip his head off," she said, through gritted teeth.

"You and me both, kid," Faith said, standing and dropping her maker's hand. She took a few steps before turning back to the woman, "I'm guessing I'm going to this asshole's club tomorrow night."

Mihaela smiled, "You know me so well."

"And these people that will try to find you through me, that wasn't them was it?"

She shook her head in response, "No, they will come to you at the club. I'm having someone tip them off that you will be there."

Faith, though not sure she was so happy with what her maker was asking of her, despite the opportunity to possibly kill each one of the vampires that had entered her home without permission, knew that she was going to obey Mihaela. Not only because she was her maker, but because she trusted her as well. If whoever was looking to get to the woman through her was set out to kill her maker, then she would kill them first.

* * *

Willow knocked on her best friend's door, hoping that she hadn't run off into the night. When she heard the other woman call for her to come in, she sighed in relief before entering. Immediately upon entering the apartment, she found Buffy sitting on her couch with her knees pulled up to her chest, "Buffy, we got some news from our contacts in Boston. About Faith."

Faith. That was her name; a name she had so much hoped to have been revealed in her years of dreaming. But she had never imagined that it would come with such a heavy price. Honestly, she had hoped that the vampire wasn't real at all when her face was revealed. Not only because she wasn't sure she wanted to deal with her love life becoming more complicated by gender, but also because she didn't want to deal with the complications of being with _another _vampire. Now it turns out that she's not only a vampire, but a slayer as well. And considering all the violent dreams she also had about the vampire, she was more concerned than ever about whether she was good or not. Whether she had her soul or not.

"What is it?" she asked, barely looking over at her friend.

She took a seat on the couch, making sure to give the slayer a bit of space, "A slayer in Boston just called to say that all of her underground contacts have told her that Faith may have our information about the vampire army in the east coast. That she may be connected to their leader."

"Or she is their leader," the blonde mumbled.

Willow smiled sympathetically, "I had forgotten all about her. It's been such a long time since I had to go inside your head, so you could defeat Glory. Even then I couldn't see her face. I only guessed it was her in the photograph because of your description that you gave me a few months ago. Have you still been having dreams about her?"

"Yes. They've never stopped. Lately, they've just gotten…worse."

"Worse, how?" she frowned.

"They're really violent, and cryptic. Nothing ever makes sense, which is typical for a slayer dream, I guess," she had never told Willow about the sexual parts of her dreams. It didn't seem necessary when she was hoping that the brunette was just a weird figment of her imagination, and even as she sat next to the redhead, she wasn't sure it was necessary to tell her now. Just because her dreams were sexual, didn't mean things would become sexual in real life.

"Kennedy's are always weird, too," she placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder, "Everything is going to be okay, Buffy. Even if we do have to fight her, and her army of vampires - which we're not sure is the case just yet - we'll make it just like we always do. Plus, you said that in a lot of dreams you actually get along and just spend time together. Maybe those are the dreams you should focus on for now. She could help us."

Buffy nodded, "I hope she does."

The lights were flashing upon entrance, Buffy was in the lead with Willow and Kennedy behind her, followed by Xander and Dawn. It was the opening night of the newest club in Boston, the first legally known and governmentally acknowledged Vampire-Human club, RITS-short for Rocket In The Sky. It was seven years after the fall of Sunnydale, and there had been many changes in their world. After the apocalypse in Los Angeles, it was kind of hard to keep things like the existence of vampires, demons, dragons, and multiple devils a secret.

Three years after setting up the new Council, they had gathered enough girls to go and help Angel. There was no way to kill everything out there, and it still wasn't done, but they were able to at least make sure all gates into their world were closed, thanks to Willow and a few of her students. Then they spent two years fighting and killing as many demons as possible, while newly found slayers were continuing to train and fight whatever creatures of the night that lived in their assigned district.

During the middle of the second year of being in Los Angeles something had gone south on the dark side of things. Apparently, vampires were not being treated fairly within the ranks, and were starved almost everyday. Buffy thought that that made sense seeing that it was a little hard for humans to live in places where dragons swooped down and swallowed them if they took even one step outside their door. If they still had a door. But because of these injustices the vampires felt were being inflicted upon them, they decided they wanted to take a look at the brighter side of things, and not as in meeting the sun. A huge influx of vampires made their way to Los Angeles, even as far as from Europe in fears of having such an apocalypse spread across the globe, going to aid the slayers in ending the rain of darkness in The City of Angels.

Meanwhile a few vampires decided to take a political outlook on things, and became legal citizens…again. Of course, that meant no more massacres, and killing to feed - butcher shop profits went way up, eventually becoming a huge vampire market - but there were always the few.

Now, as if it weren't already a problem in the underground, vampire groupies were lining up to party with, sleep with, simply get bitten by, or get turned by a vampire. RITS was the first official nightclub for vampires and vamp groupies, and anything you wanted there, you could get it. There were only two rules-no fighting, and remember that no means no. Otherwise, you'd be dealing with getting thrown out and possibly having to deal with a committee of vampires that have an agreement with the government as they try to somewhat establish one of their own. Within country limitations, of course. But Buffy and the others still felt it was worth checking out, and they were following a lead on finding Faith Lehane, the slayer-vampire that had Buffy had been dreaming about for years.

Trying to adjust to the flashes of white chaotically disrupting the dark warehouse turned club, and get over the insanely loud music, Buffy stopped and turned to look at her friends and family, "I'll just head straight down the middle," she gestured behind her, down a few steps to where all the dancing was happening, "This is a delicate operation, so let's try to be on the gentle side of things if we can," giving Kennedy a pointed look, she watched as Willow headed towards the upper floor, Xander was going to check out the left side of the club-the side where the hardcore groupies let a few vamps take a sip, Dawn was taking the right side-the bar area with a few places to sit, and Kennedy was going to check out the back of the club-which usually consisted of obscene public sex. Seeing that fighting in the club would mean they'd have to deal with their own law enforcement and government, because the vampire committee only handled matters in the vampire community, they had been the only ones to come inside the club, but the special forces team, along with a few of the Boston slayers, was scattered around the club and city incase anything went wrong.

She walked down the few steps, heading towards the crowded dance floor. Even without the flashing lights, she could see the dance floor would be chaos. Trying to draw as little attention to themselves as possible, they had all dressed the part for their operation in the club. Buffy had decided on a tight black dress that was a little on the short side, her hair - its natural color for the mission, so to draw as little attention to herself as possible - straight and flowing slightly past her shoulders, and black high-heeled boots that clung to her calves. Minus the choker, and more than a few leashes she was seeing, she felt she fit in just great. She had even decided to be a bit more generous with her black eyeliner, just for kicks.

"_I've got nothing so far, Buff," _Willow informed.

Buffy was about to say the same, but she bumped into someone and stumbled, causing a domino effect. A few vamps hissed at her, and the humans glared, "Sorry," she shouted, raising her hands in surrender. Making it through the middle of the crowd was almost impossible, and extremely irritating, especially since there were vampires everywhere. None of which were shying away from showing their fangs, without completely morphing; it was the new thing. She felt like at any moment one of them would turn just when she wasn't looking and dig their sharp canines into her jugular, despite the rules set in place. Which she hoped to god Kennedy would keep in mind, and not end up punching before asking. Once they found Faith, they were going to leave the club and leave the junior slayers to keep watch just incase things went south. Only the head honchos, and the two top Watchers were to directly approach Faith.

'Being that powerful, it wouldn't be hard to find a few lackeys,' and now that there was more than _two _slayers in the world, an army would be needed to even make a dent in the number of active slayers. Then their was the special forces assigned to handle all vampire matters by the government, who came equip with flame throwers, guns that shot out stakes, and sometimes tranquilizers-which is why no one wanted them involved at all, minus a few interested corporations.

When she reached the middle of the dance floor, she froze. A few sleazily dancing people over, a pair of eyes met hers behind thick eyeliner like her own. With her eyes on her, she suddenly noticed the imbalance of power she felt in the club. It was as if she could feel the power coming from the dark haired vampire. She didn't know whether she wanted to run over and kill the woman, or sniff the air around her, circling her with studying eyes, after killing off the female leather clad vampire grinding against her. Thinking neither were a good idea, she simply began to walk towards her, keeping their eye contact as she pushed people to the side, ignoring any hisses or glares this time. With the way she was feeling, if one of them did try anything, she'd stop them in their tracks before she knew it. Every accidental graze of skin against hers sent out a signal to attack. But she didn't attack, she wouldn't.

Finally she stood in front of the vampire that was grinding her back into Faith's front, paying Buffy no mind really, as her obviously died red hair shook in pink-tails with the side to side motion of her head. For some reason, Buffy wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the redheaded vampire-the type of red that is _too_ red, and darker than the usual redheads. A puny, leather clad, pink-tailed vampire grinding up against a dark haired, dark eyed, powerhouse; the ordinary vampire probably had no clue who or what she was even dancing with, or how unevenly matched they were in every aspect of physical contact. But Buffy she didn't laugh, and the vampire continued to ignore her as Faith continued to stare, now with a wild grin spread across her face.

That grin set off the slayer within Buffy even more; made her want to jump up and down, pounding her fists on the ground like a mad gorilla, 'What is going on with me?' before she could stay too long on that thought Faith, while keeping her gaze and the grin on her face, whispered something in the ear of the vampire she was dancing with, making the woman stop dancing and look at her for a moment, obviously not so happy by what had just been whispered to her. After hissing and making sure that Buffy saw her fangs, the redhead was gone like that, and Faith was moving closer to her.

"Hi," she said, moving close enough to speak next to Buffy's ear, "Something you're looking for?"

The husky voice in her ear swept over her like fire, the slayer within her now pulling at every muscle in her body, "Nothing in particular," she managed, though not as confidently as she had hoped. Though she was strictly there on business, she didn't want to just demand that the other woman go outside with her for an interrogation, and possibly capturing. Instead, she let herself be guided by the hands that were now on her hips, "You?"

She laughed from deep in her throat, making it rasp, "Not anymore," with a quick yank, she pulled the woman's hips to hers, putting her nose in her hair and taking a deep breath. Unlike most of the people and vampires in the club, the petite woman smelled of flowers and sunshine-like life. With a grin she began sway with the music, pulling the other woman along with her, and eventually starting to move faster.

Buffy couldn't quite push herself to move with the chaotic rhythm of the song, it had been a while since she'd really gone out dancing, and she was having to focus so hard on keeping her urge to either move away or move closer-to smell the brunette just as she had been smelled-But standing there staring into the eyes that were once again staring back into hers was not an option. She took a few slow deep breaths hoping to make her inner self calm.

"_Buffy, is that her? Do you want me to come down?" _Willow said, suddenly in Buffy's head.

Faith's fingers spread in Buffy's hair, pulling her head back slightly, "What's your name?"

"_Buffy-"_

"_No. No, I'm fine," _she finally managed telepathically. Faith was still waiting for her to answer, "Buffy."

She growled, turning the small woman around, and catching her when she slightly lost her footing, "Slayer," she said slowly, her lips curling up. Wrapping an arm around Buffy's waist, she pulled her closer, grazing her nose over the tan skin of her neck, "Tell me," she breathed, "are you gonna feed me, slayer."

Buffy's eyes went wide, and her muscled tensed as she suddenly realized just how overwhelmingly dangerous it was for Faith to be that close to her neck truly was, but before she had time to react to protect herself, she was pushed forward. She stumbled, bumping into more than a few people, and then turned to look back at the other brunette to see that she was heading the other way, pushing through the crowd.

"_She's heading out the back door," _she notified Willow, knowing she would warn the girls outside, getting them ready just incase they were pulled in to help. That was the worst case scenario, which would mean she wouldn't be able to handle the slayer-vampire herself, so she was hoping it wouldn't come to that. When she reached the back of the club, shivering instantly at the cold air hitting her skin, she was surprised when she was suddenly pushed back up against the door by the woman she had been following.

"Why are you following me?" she asked, through gritted teeth. Someone tried to come out the door, she presumed it was the slayer's backup so she slammed her hand against it, forcing it back shut. Her fangs sprung from their hiding place, her other hand moving to Buffy's chest to hold her against the door.

Buffy slapped the hand away and went to push the woman back, but suddenly found herself being slammed back against the door with a loud thud, knocking the breath out of her. She now knew for sure that the woman in front of her was no ordinary slayer or vampire, she hadn't even seen her move.

"Answer me," she hissed, catching Buffy's gaze fully, and staring deep into her eyes, "Answer me, now."

Before Buffy could even think to answer, Willow appeared behind the brunette, about to put a hand on her shoulder, but Faith had sensed her immediately. One moment she was holding Buffy against the door, and then she was gone.


	2. Blood

I of course am going to thank all you guys that reviewed first. They were all amazing, and made me want to jump right into the second chapter, so thank you very very much. As some of you have probably noticed, I'm borrowing a few vamp details from True Blood. Just because….they're lots of fun, and give more room to explore the vampire world. Hope you enjoy the chapter. Oh and I added scene breaks...thank god. This site always deletes the ones I originally insert.

P.S. when I went back to reread the first chapter, I noticed I missed a few misspellings and such, so I'm wondering if anyone would be so kind as to be my beta. It would be much appreciated! If you're interested, email me at. Thanks!

Chapter Two: Blood

Faith turned the key slowly, hoping that she wouldn't immediately encounter anyone upon entering her mother's run down apartment. Seeing there was no one in the living room, she entered without hesitation, carrying a brown bag of groceries and necessities. Toothpaste, soap, shampoo, trash bags, things like that. The quietness of the place was a little offsetting, but she could feel that somewhere within the place there was still a strong pulse going. A strong, chaotic pulse, but she knew it wasn't because anyone was in danger - well, not in the sense of violence.

She entered the kitchen and cringed at the sight of the piling dishes in the sink, some beginning to grow mold, while others were being fed upon by flies and cockroaches. The refrigerator wasn't much better; before she could fully pull it open on its squeaky hinges, the smell of its rotting contents filled the air, sending Faith's sense of smell into overdrive. She slammed it shut, cursing under her breath as she moved to look under the sink for the rubber gloves she had brought the last time she was there. To her surprise, they were still in tact. She took off her jacket, and the black shirt she had worn over a grey tank, tossing them onto the couch since it was the cleanest area in the apartment that she could see.

First, she cleaned the dishes in the sink, having to constantly use the bug spray she had had a feeling she would need. After that, she cleaned out the refrigerator, and despite the fact that she was already dead she was sure that even she wasn't safe being around the rotting foods. Once that was done, she wiped it all down before starting to fill it with fresh food.

"You're not her."

Faith stopped moving, looking slightly over her shoulder at the strung out woman behind her; her hollowed black eyes, and yellow teeth; her tattered clothes, and marked arms, "I missed you too, Ma."

The woman huffed, "You're not mine," her eyes jumped around the room as she shook her head, "Nope. My daughter's dead."

"Have been for a while now. It's not so bad, really," she could have continued. Could have told the woman that compared to the life she had given her, living in death was paradise, but she didn't. Her mother had never been one to listen anyways, and it had been a long night. She had barely given herself time to even begin comprehending the fact that Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the one looking for her. There was no way she was going to end up arguing with a drug addict for the rest of the night.

"Has been from the start," the woman smacked her dry lips, desperately trying to sooth their deep cracks, "Died in the womb before I could even have her," suddenly finding herself backed against a counter, with Faith only inches away from her face, the woman shrieked, "You're not her."

She reached into her pocket, pulling out a tube of chap stick, "Tilt your head back," the woman in front of her complied shakily, and Faith gently reached out to sooth the woman's lips. Once she was done, she sat the tube on the counter, "Don't lose this one, it may be a while before I can come back. Do you remember Paul?" she asked, turning back to finish putting up the last bit of groceries, "If I can't make it, I'll have him bring you a few things," the woman had already invited him in in a stupor, to Faith's relief, "He won't hurt you, but he doesn't have any drugs, so don't ask."

"Where will you be?" her dry skin flaked as she scratched her arms, waiting for Faith to answer the question. The slayer-vampire finished with the groceries, tossed the sack into the empty trash bag she had just placed in the trashcan, and then went to collect her things off of the couch, "Answer me," the woman stomped, her eyes once again bouncing about the room.

Rolling her eyes, Faith turned to the woman, happy that she no longer had dreams of her becoming something she wasn't, "I'll come back, I promise. Paul may not even have to come by," within her she felt that no matter how much she was hoping she was telling the truth, things were going to get a bit more complicated than usual.

* * *

_With a folded towel, Buffy roughly removed her thick eyeliner. She sighed for the millionth time thinking of what happened at the club. Before she had entered the grand vampire-human establishment she had removed herself from the situation. Part of her mind had just checked out for the evening. She didn't want to walk in thinking about the countless dreams she had of the mysterious slayer-vampire; didn't want her mind to be clouded with images of skin and blood. It felt too personal that way. When she arrived at the club, she just knew that the best way of doing things would involve her walking in as if it were just another baddie they were chasing down. Another mystery they needed to solve, and one that hadn't been somewhat in her life for years. It wasn't until Faith had said those words that all of it had come crashing back._

"_You gonna feed me, slayer?" she said, aloud, continuing to remove her makeup, "She didn't seem to recognize me."_

"_Maybe it's the hair."_

_She glanced over her shoulder, finding the woman in question sitting on the outside of the bathtub, "Maybe," when she turned back to the mirror, Faith was directly behind her; her reflection caught in the mirror making Buffy jump._

"_Did you think it'd be that easy?" she grinned, "You're in my world now. You like?"_

"Hey, Buffy…Buffy, wake up."

Groaning, Buffy sat up on the couch, "Did someone find her?" she asked, turning to Kennedy who immediately gave her an answer without even speaking. After they had returned from the club, to change into more appropriate hunting attire, Buffy had sat down on the couch to wait for any tip on where Faith had disappeared to. It was obvious to all of them that none of them were able to follow her, but they had already had a few slayers looking into a few places the slayer-vampire was said to have visited most often. Seeing that Kennedy had a tranquilizer sitting in her lap, Buffy figured that she was on the verge of having a second encounter with the object of her dreams.

"The same slayer that tipped us off before thinks she may have figured out where Faith's been staying, so I thought you and I would go check it out. Everyone else has turned in for the night, and a couple of the girls that were hiding around the club were a little put off by her vanishing act."

"Great," she sighed, rubbing her temples, "And the tranq-gun?"

Kennedy smiled, "In case we get lucky."

"In case she decides to stand close to a window just before dawn, or move at a speed that doesn't leave you thinking that maybe she was never there at all?"

"You never know," the young slayer shrugged, getting to her feet.

Buffy stood up as well, "Let me just grab a jacket from upstairs," she walked through the unfamiliar academy, glad to find Willow walking out of the room she knew was right across from hers, "I thought I was a bit lost for a second."

"Nope, not lost," she watched as the shorter woman went to enter the room she had been given while in Boston, following her inside and closing the door behind her, "So you and Kennedy are actually going to go out again tonight?"

"I told her I'd be up for it if someone could give us a location, and apparently we just got one. One very important one," after unzipping one of her bags, she paused, looking at the redhead over her shoulder, "I want you to call in that slayer that keeps popping up with these random tips. If the old Council wasn't able to track Faith down, then how is she knowing her every move and location?"

"The old Council has been out for a while now, maybe Faith is just starting to really settle down," Willow reasoned, "But she's already set to come in tomorrow. Tonight she was scheduled to take out a nest with the other girls in this district, so she couldn't make it."

"Okay," she slipped her jacket on and zipped it tight, "Good. Well, Kenn is waiting for me."

"Buff," Willow stepped in the woman's path, making her look directly at her, "I'm not sure this is a good idea. You seemed a little frazzled after what happened at the club, and I know I could have gone the whole 'say it and it shall be done' route earlier, instead the touching route, but we both saw how fast she could move. A couple of the other girls saw it too, but we were up close and personal and-"

"No, I was up close and personal. I got a taste of the speed and the strength, and all it does is convince me that we need to find her now. I need to know if she's as dangerous as she is in my dreams, and if she is, I need to take care of her before things get out of hand. Before we're having to fight a whole army of slayer crazed vampires."

"Fine. I think that you should take the night to think things through, but you're obviously not going to, and someone needs to stay here in case things get a little crazy so I can't go. You know that if you need me, all you have to do is think it-"

"I know. Everything will be fine, Will. Kenn's all gun-hoe downstairs, but I'm thinking this is just going to be a little recon. Like I said, I just need to know."

"Okay," she gave a short nod, and then turned to leave with Buffy right behind her. Once they were back in the hall, she turned back to her friend, "The brunette thing is kind of weird," she laughed.

"It really is," Buffy said, laughing as well, "We won't be long, the sun will be coming up soon," just before she rounded the corner, she heard Willow call her name and poked her head back around, "Yeah, Will?"

"When you're ready, I'm here if you ever want to talk about what really happens in your dreams," she started to walk in her room, "Be careful."

Buffy stood there for a moment, her jaw slightly hanging, and then made her way back downstairs, "Let's go."

* * *

It was a mere hour before the sun would rise, and Faith was more than anxious to have at least one good meal before turning in for the day. She pulled opened her last fresh bottle of blood, Mihaela having finished off the other bottle, and poured it into a large mug before heating it up. It wasn't that she couldn't enjoy room temperature blood, but her adrenaline was still pumping from her encounter at the club, and she was still frustrated with her _mother situation._ Warm blood was the closest she would get to a hunt at the moment, and she knew it. There would be no early morning rumps, or hunting of the early rising, unsuspecting, workers of Boston.

"You're getting to be a little bit too much like her," she said, sensing someone behind her, "As much as I love you, kid, I can't have people just coming into my home like this. It's beginning to feel like an open house or something."

Paul laughed, "Or something," he watched as she pulled her mug from the microwave, licking his lips at the smell of the slayer's blood, "How did you get that anyways? Who the fuck do you know from South Africa?"

"I know people," she grinned, turning to face him, "So what, did Mihaela send you to make sure I didn't slaughter everyone in that damn club? That place was fucking crazy. I mean, you could screw someone and feed off them with the whole fucking place watching. A little too trashy for me, but it's good to know I've got some new options."

He walked over to her, taking the mug from her hands and taking a quick sip before setting it down on the countertop, "You know there are two slayers on the building across the street spying on you?" his fangs descended, "We should eat them," he grinned, placing his hands on her sides and moving even closer.

She shivered when his lips grazed hers, his fangs pushing against her lips. It was obvious to her that he was still in his 'obsession-devotion' stage when it came to her, as his maker, "Sometimes I'm not so sure that you really drive stick."

"You're my only exception," before Faith could manage another word he managed to unbutton and unzip her pants, and then quickly yanked them down, "I'm guessing we won't be eating the slayers then? It's a shame, one of them smells _so_ good."

Faith's fangs shot out, a low growl rumbling in her throat, "You have no idea," he pushed her up onto the counter, making sure to avoid knocking over the mug of blood that she quickly downed before pulling him forward into a bloody kiss. Both of them moaning at the taste as the tongues slid across and around one another's, sometimes wonderfully grazing their fangs.

* * *

Glancing over at Kennedy one more time, Buffy let out a long held breath seeing that the younger slayer was still asleep leaning against the ledge of the rooftop. Slowly, she turned to look back through the scope of the tranquilizer. It was what she was supposed to be doing after all; watching the slayer-vampire. They were on a stakeout; an outing to determine whether the dark haired vamp was a threat, the leader of a supposed rising vampire army, but at the moment Buffy wasn't getting conformation or evidence of otherwise.

She watched as the male vampire continued his assault between Faith's legs, his hands gripping her bare ass on the countertop. One of her hands spread and gripping his dark hair, while the other was high above her head quivering and shaking as she tried to grip the flat surface of the cabinet behind her, mostly scratching it instead. Her bare breasts rose and fell in jerking motions, and her legs shook as she stared down at him, her mouth hanging open with her fangs still out. The look of lust and pure enjoyment captivated Buffy. Every dream of skin and sweat rose to the surface, causing a rise in temperature that she couldn't quite explain in the chill air of Boston. She could picture every moment she had found herself between those very legs; the feel of the other woman's fingers gripping her hair, her own hands holding onto Faith's quivering. She could hear the moans that were entrapped within the wall of brunette's apartment; the panting, and begging for more.

Never in her life had she pictured herself peeking in on private moments, especially not private moments between vampires, but at the moment she just couldn't tear her eyes away - minus the far and few glances she sent in Kennedy's direction. Not when the male vampire had initially bent down between Faith's legs, trailing his tongue down her abdomen, and not now as he took a bite to drink from her thigh before standing to enter her. She could see every muscle in his back ripple and flex as he thrust against her, and couldn't help but wonder…if she were to take that step - if her dreams were to become a reality, would it be like that? Would her hands caress that soft pale skin, lips ever be pressed on the other woman's fuller ones, or would it all be blood and chaos? And even if it wasn't all blood and chaos, if it was just like what she was witnessing, and all the dreams that ended with her desperately trying to catch her breath, what would that really be?

Hearing a bit of shuffling beside her, Buffy moved to lean against the ledge of the rooftop, her eyes moving to the dark sky above her. At some point her breathing had picked up without her noticing, she gripped her jacket tightly trying to focus on anything but what she had just seen. What she really wanted to do was remove the jacket, but that would only lead to questions she wasn't so sure she wanted to ever be asked.

Kennedy yawned and stretched, "Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked, looking over at the other slayer, noticing her tense posture, "You cold? I can lend you my jacket, I'm pretty used to-"

"No," not meaning to say it so quickly, she gave a small smile, "Sorry. I'm just tired."

She pulled out her cellphone, "The sun will be up any moment now. Is that guy still with her?"

Buffy couldn't help but let a small laugh escape her lips, "Definitely."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kennedy smiled, "What are they doing?"

"Fucking."

Her brows rose at Buffy's choice of words, "Seriously?" excitedly she moved to look through the scope of the gun only to find herself looking at the back of the other slayer's hand.

"Kennedy, no," as much of a hypocrite it might have made her, she felt that she had to protest. Not only because she didn't want to be around as her best friend's girlfriend got a live viewing of vampire porn, but also because she felt that one peeking-tom had been enough.

"Aw come on," she whined, "Aren't you even a little curious to see how vampires go at it? With each other I mean, since you know…." she shook her head, "You can't seriously not be wanting to take just a little, little peak. At least let me take one."

"Fine," she sighed, moving her hand away from the scope. Trying not to seem like she was watching for a reaction, she only looked at her from the corner of her eye. Part of her mind wondered, too; tried to gasp what was now going on in the apartment. Had they finished in a symphony of whimpering moans, moved from the countertop into a different position?

Kennedy moved back from the lens with a mixed expression of a smile and frown, "Yeah, it's looking a little more painful than pleasant right now."

'That's how she likes it sometimes,' Buffy thought.

"But from the faces they're making, I'd say they should be wrapping things up any second now," she laughed and settled back against the ledge, "I can't believe that she's a vampire, and a slayer. That she's half of our sworn enemy, and yet somehow like us at the same time, you know? I mean, does she have a soul because she's part slayer?"

"We both know that the slayer half of us is a demon, so if she does have a soul, it isn't because she's half slayer," Buffy stated, "We're probably going to need Willow to do a spell or something, check to see if it's there. With the way the world is willingly feeding vamps now, we can't really tell just by watching her unless she goes out and slaughters a bunch of people, and even then…she could just be psychotic."

"Didn't you ever ask about the slayer that was called after Kendra was killed? Did they tell you the next slayer was called was killed, or what?"

"I did ask once, when Glory was trying to use Dawn as a key to tear open the worlds I asked Giles about her. We needed help, and having two slayers definitely would have made a difference, especially when I went all comatose in my own mind. But Giles just said that he had only heard a few things about the slayer that was called after Kendra, and that from what he knew she was presumed to be dead. There wasn't any time to find out if another one had been called, we weren't exactly on speaking terms with the old Council."

"Right," Kennedy nodded. They both sat in silence for a moment, the sky above beginning to turn shades of purple, "I wonder…I wonder what she's like. Part of me just wants to get in there and stake the shit out of her, but another part of me is curious."

"Me too," Buffy admitted.

"Well…"

Buffy and Kennedy both jumped, Kennedy grabbing the tranquilizer and immediately firing off two in the direction of the voice that wasn't theirs, but they were both caught.

"…I guess you're about to find out," Faith grinned, holding a dart in each hand. She met Buffy's eyes, and then plunged the darts in the side of her neck, collapsing on the rooftop.

Both slayers were now on their feet and slowly approaching the other woman, Kennedy still pointing the gun at the still figure, "What the fuck was that? One moment she's naked and screwing that other vamp, and the next she's up here and dressed," cautiously, she poked Faith with her foot a few times, relieved when she didn't move.

Seeing that the vampire was actually out, or at least she hoped, Buffy picked her up and threw her over her shoulder, "Let's go before she's a pile of dust."

* * *

"What did she say?" Buffy asked, when Willow and Kennedy walked out of the interrogation room Faith was placed in. They had waited for only and hour or so before waking the vampire with one of Willow's remedy, daylight and all, and she had been pacing ever since. Her best friend had questioned why she herself hadn't wanted to be in the interrogation room, and in all honesty she had even questioned herself, but considering her peeking activities on the rooftop she just hadn't trusted herself.

"Nothing. Absolutely, fucking nothing," Kenned said, through grit teeth. She turned to her girlfriend, "I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay, I'll be up soon," they gave each other a quick kiss, and then she turned her attention back to her best friend, "Buffy, she says she'll only talk to you, and it has to be alone. But I don't think that's the best idea. This seems a little too easy."

"She stabbed two tranq darts into her own neck, it was extremely easy."

"Do you think it's a trap?" she asked, worriedly.

"Unfortunately, there's only one way to find out," running her fingers through her hair, she took a deep breath, "I've got to go in there."

"Maybe I can do an invisibility spell and be in there with you."

"No, for some reason I just have a feeling that wouldn't work out so well. I'm just going to have to do this," she could see that Willow didn't like the idea, that she was worried about how many ways it could all go wrong, but she really didn't see any other way, "There are slayers around every corner, and you're just going to be-"

"Right here," Willow cut in, "I may not be able to keep you from going in there, but I'm not leaving this spot until you come out," she paused, "Maybe a truth spell-"

"Will," Buffy sighed, "Let's just try things her way. I'm tired, and if she wanted me dead, I'm pretty sure she could have done it on the roof. Her doing that with the darts put her in danger of being staked, or left on the roof to burn - I just think we should at least give this a shot."

"Do you really, because the Buffy I know doesn't usually just agree to do things on other people's terms, especially when their terms may lead to a bunch of people dying. I know the situation is a little different because of your dreams, but I don't know Buff - Do you know if she's sharing them with you?"

"How could I know?" she straightened herself up and walked over to the door, "It'll be fine" after a moment, she turned the knob, "Go ahead and lock the door behind me," before Willow could say anything else, she entered the room and closed the door, glad to hear the clicking of its lock, "I heard you were asking for me."

Faith lifted her head off the table, blood beginning to run from her nose and ears, "You mind?" she looked down at her shirt, "I need a little help with the wiping."

As Faith had been placed into the room, Willow had put a spell on her hands to keep them magically bound to the table, "Uh," Buffy took a few steps forward, "I don't really have anything to…"

"How about your shirt?" she grinned, "No?"

"No," she said, folding her arms, "Definitely not going to happen."

"Never hurts to ask, though I usually don't have to. Just rip the bottom of mine, I've got plenty of them at home."

Swallowing hard, she cautiously made her way to the other side of the table, "If you try anything, there are hundreds of slayers, and one very powerful witch here waiting to kill you."

"Or waiting to be eaten. I could make myself through this whole place in the blink of an eye, but why would I do that when I can spend a little time with you?" the slayer approached her, slowly reaching beneath her arms to tear a piece of her shirt, "If I wanted, I could stand up, pull up into a handstand and wrap my legs around that tiny little neck of yours," they met each other's eyes, faces inches apart, "But then how would I get my hands free?"

Buffy ripped the shirt roughly, keeping her eyes locked with the slayer-vampire's, and then began to wipe away the blood from her nose and ears, "I've never actually seen this happen to a vampire before."

"We're a little different these days, and in different regions from what I've heard and seen. Not as different as me of course," once Buffy was done wiping the blood off, she watched as the slayer went to sit opposite of her, "I'm one of a kind, just like you."

"I'm not. Not anymore, at least, but let's just get to the point," the faster she was out of the room, the better. As much as she felt at ease, she felt just as tense; the woman across from her was familiar in so many ways, but at the same time she didn't know her at all, "You were asking for me, so let's talk about why we're both here."

"Please, don't pretend you weren't just on the other side of that door the whole entire time. Even through these thick ass walls," she took in a deep breath through her nose, "I could smell you. Why not just come in in the first place, huh? Why send your groupies, and students when you could face me yourself?"

Buffy sighed, "Look, it's been a long couple of days and I'm not in the mood for any games, so how about I start. Do you have a soul?"

"Wow, ask a girl on a date first," she said, with a false expression of shock, "That's not what you want to know."

"Actually, it is."

Faith frowned, she was sure that the woman was going to ask her about Mihaela. Though her maker had said that the people that would be looking for her would also try to assess Faith's state as well, she hadn't exactly thought it would be the case, "It doesn't matter. Having a soul or not having a soul makes no difference in this age and time. Either you're a killer, or you're not."

"Are you a killer?" she asked, knowing what Faith said was true.

She shrugged, "That's really none of your business. Not with the new vamp government that's being set up."

"Screw you and your vampire government, I'm a slayer and if you're going around slaughtering people, it is my responsibility to kill you."

"Oh you could try," her fangs descended slowly, "In fact, please do. It's been a while since I've had even a fraction of a challenge. But even if you do manage it, then you'd never get the info that you're really after."

"That may be true, but I'm kinda liking the possible outcomes right now. I mean, if you're the leader of the vampire army and I kill you…then they've lost their leader, but if you're not and you're connected to the actual leader then I'd be sending them a message."

Her fangs retracted, "Here I was thinking that you'd be a little brighter than the usual slayer I bump into, all young and naïve, at least in terms of how to use their abilities and how they piece things together, but obviously I was wrong," she made sure to look the slayer directly in the eyes, "You're looking a little tired there, slayer. Been awake for a few days?"

"Are you trying to insult me, 'cause I've gotta say-"

"When the human brain doesn't get enough time to recharge it becomes weak, and vulnerable. I may be a young vampire, but like I said I'm different. There are parts of my vampire side that have developed a little further, and faster than most…"

Buffy's expression slid into a neutral calm, her eyes glued to Faith's. Suddenly, she didn't feel so torn by being in the room; there were no feelings of fear, or questions about just how dangerous the woman in front of her was.

"You are not in any danger," Faith said, in a level voice, "Do you believe me?"

"Yes."

Faith smiled lightly, "Stand up, and walk over to me," the slayer complied, keeping their eye contact as she moved to the other side of the table, "Now, reach behind me and pull out the knife that you have behind between your jeans and your back," she complied again, "Good. Cut your arm with it, and let the blood drip over my hands."

Buffy cut her arm, gasping at the sharp pain, and let the blood drop onto Faith's hands, "How much?" she asked, her voice empty.

"Until I tell you to stop, of course," smelling the slayer's blood, her fangs reemerged. It was so strong, and sweet smelling that for a moment she almost lost her focus, but she forced herself to snap out of it. After a minute her hands were covered, and she quickly jerked them away from the table, happy to see that it worked, "You have no idea what your blood can do, slayer," she stood up, stretching as she kept their eye contact. She picked up the torn piece of her shirt from the table and wrapped it around Buffy's cut arm, "What do you say?"

"Thank you."

"Good girl," finally blinking, she grabbed the slayer and turned her around, making her bend over the table she was just bound to, "Now it's your turn to put your hands on the table," she said, harshly slamming the woman's hands on the table beneath hers, pressing her front against her, "God, you smell _so good."_


	3. Truth

Thanks to all you reviewers! They were so amazing, and I kinda love you guys! Also, thanks to my upcoming beta Justagrump...we shall soon work through our document compatibility issues, and actually be able to work together lol. Hope you enjoy the quick update!

Chapter Three: Truth

Still with her front pressed against Buffy's back, Faith leaned forward, her lips grazing the slayer's ear, "Here you were thinking you were in charge," she let one of her hands move from holding Buffy's on the table, running it along the other woman's arm, fingers grazing her slender neck, "But no way would I ever hand the reins over to a self-righteous, all knowing slayer who thinks she can just waltz into my life and pass judgment on the way I live," scraping her nails over the slayer's material covered back, she let out a low growl, "There are so many things I could do to you."

Buffy's breath hitched at the feel of Faith's nails, her back arching against her will. She could feel the slayer-vampire's chest shake with the laughter; feel her wandering hand move to grip her ass. Her own breathing, having finally resumed, came out in short quick breaths, "If you think killing me-"

"Does it _feel_ like I'm going to kill you?" her other hand quickly moved to Buffy's waist, fingers spreading to graze the skin beneath her shirt, "God, I just want to cover myself in your scent," she moved her hand fully beneath the woman's shirt, feeling her muscles tense under touch, along with the shiver that ran through Buffy's body. In response, she rolled her hips against her perk backside, moaning loudly, "I know you want it, too. I could see it in your eyes at the club. Could feel you watching me from the rooftop…"

Trying hard to push herself to at least try to fight back, Buffy started to take deep breaths. She tried to ignore the cold hand on her abdomen, and the one that was slowly moving up and down her thigh. If she could just focus on anything other than Faith's touch…Part of her wanted to just scream; to call for help and hope that Willow would be able to move fast enough to end things without getting hurt herself, or letting Faith escape, but preventing both seemed very unlikely. Then, there was the part of her that wanted to do no such thing; a part of her that wanted Faith to continue scratching, rubbing, and rolling her hips against her. But, she knew that it had to stop. That no many how many dreams she may have had of them becoming intimate, it wasn't right, especially not the way that it was happening at that very moment.

However, when the hand that was once caressing her thigh moved to cup her from behind all thoughts of escaping were lost. She hissed and turned her head to face the other direction, not wanting to catch a glimpse of the other woman grinning out of the corner of her eye, "Fuck."

"Oh, I intend to," she moved her hand from Buffy's stomach, quickly unbuttoning her pants, and pulling down her zipper. Her hand was instantly met with heat and moisture upon slipping beneath the fabric of the slayer's panties, moving to cup her bear folds.

Suddenly the door burst open and a dirty-blonde haired girl in a yellow sundress stepped in, twirling two black objects, both releasing long blades when they stilled.

Faith's fangs emerged as she roared in the girl's direction, but the girl only winked in response. Seeing an opportunity she couldn't pass up, Faith removed her hand from Buffy's pants, and made for the door, a burst of light emitting as she pushed through the magical barrier Willow had cast. As soon as she was out of the room ever alarm in the academy went off, alerting everyone that a vampire was on the grounds.

"Looks like I caught you two in a compromising position," the girl said, with a thick southern twang, pulling Buffy out of her haze.

Slowly, Buffy sat up from leaning across the table, her hands still red and stinging from their initial slam against the surface, bloodied hand prints across her stomach.

"You've got a bit on your neck, too," the girl pointed out, "And your shirt. And pants," she added, scrunching her nose.

Willow rushed into the room, her eyes bulging at seeing Buffy's appearance, and zipping of her pants, "Buffy, I didn't-" she ran over to her, "I didn't think that-I thought that…Are you okay?"

Buffy nodded slowly, just like the rest of her movement, "I'm okay."

"I knew something didn't feel right, but I just that it was maybe just that your energies were clashing. I should have known better," she pulled the woman into a hug, "I'm so sorry."

A sense of relief washed through her, and Buffy tightly wrapped her arms around her best friend, finally feeling grounded again. She knew what her best friend was thinking, and she knew the guilt the redhead was feeling came from the thought of Buffy once again being on the brink of being violated. Knowing that, she could practically hear the shouts for revenge that would emit from her family, friends, and fellow slayers, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell the truth. That she didn't try to fight, not even for one second. All she could do was hold on tighter and relish in the feeling of the familiar and known; of security in her reality, her world. Because in that, she found her own sanity. The sanity that she had lost the moment Faith's hands had touched her skin.

"What's going on?" another girl asked, from the doorway, her caramel skin glistening with a thin layer of sweat, "One moment I'm sleeping, and the next thing I know I'm chasing after some vampire who stole my covers and jumped out the window."

The girl in the sundress grinned, "Morning Mimi."

"Lucy," the girl said, rolling her eyes.

Willow removed her arms from around her friend, "Buffy, this is Mimi, she's the head slayer in this district."

Mimi looked the bloodied woman over, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," her voice cracked, "I'm fine," she shook her head, trying to clear it a bit more, "She escaped?"

"Before I could even grab a weapon," she answered, with a huff, "No one even informed me that she was here, which I've gotta say - Not cool."

* * *

Faith quickly made her way through the long hallway, sending its contents adrift as she passed. More so than she had been last night, she felt full of adrenaline and the smell of Buffy's blood and skin only pushed her to a higher point of anticipation. Now she knew for sure that there were things she did not know about happening around her; things that, though they may lead to her maker who she must inevitably always follow and obey, she now felt more than obligated to question. Because for the first time in years, if not since the first moment she rose as a vampire, she wasn't sure if she could trust her maker.

Bursting through the double doors at the far end of the hall, she was immediately taken aback at the sight of Paul, Mihaela, and the young auburn haired vampire rising to their feet. The candle lit room, full of old antique items with a king sized canopy at its far end, turned quiet as Faith fell to her knees, "Mihaela."

"Faith," she approached her kneeling progeny, her hands held out as a signal to rise and take them, but when she saw the blood on the slayer-vampire's hands, and the smell of another slayer suddenly overwhelmed her senses all sense of relief at seeing Faith was okay was pushed aside. She pulled her hands back before they were taken, "Her smell is all over you, her blood on your hands. You didn't drink from her, did you?"

"No, I used her blood to break a spell her witch bitch cast to bind my hands to a table," she answered, through grit teeth, "I didn't kill or feed from anyone."

"I still can't believe you actually did it," Paul admitted, with excitement in his voice.

Mihaela shook her head, "It was foolish. Elizabeth and I thought Paul was joking when he told us you had basically handed yourself over to be killed. No matter how may powerful you may be, it is not okay to be reckless and…well, stupid."

The girl, who Faith now knew to be Elizabeth, laughed, "Do you even know who the top slayer in this district is? Mimi Hampton is one persistent bitch."

"Enough," Mihaela said, waving her hand, "Leave us," without hesitancy Paul and Elizabeth headed out of the room, "Get some sleep, we've all been a little deprived of it lately," once they were out of the room, she gestured for Faith to sit in a chair across from where she was going to sit, "So, what happened with the slayers?"

"I know what you're doing," Faith said, ignoring the question. As disrespectful as she may have been being by doing so, she was not going to let what she discovered at the academy go ignored and unquestioned, "Is this some new twisted fucking game you've decided to play? See if the slayers can catch me if I drop breadcrumbs all over the fucking place?"

"Faith-"

"You're leading them straight to you," she shouted, "Why? And what the fuck was Buffy Summers talking about when she was saying that I'm either the leader of some rising vamp army, or connected to the leader?"

With a sigh, Mihaela rose to pour two glasses of blood, handing one to Faith before returning to her chair, "There have been some things that I've kept from you about the vampires here. What their intentions are, and how I am involved," Faith opened her mouth to say something, but Mihaela continued before she could, "That's enough disrespect for the day, let me finish. I have many enemies, being so old, and now I can no longer know who to trust in this world. Even before I started to, as you put it, drop breadcrumbs all over the fucking place - someone revealed my identity to the slayers' main headquarters. I can either let them follow that lead and come to execute me, or I can lead them in a different direction and hope for the best."

"Hope for the best? Since when do you sit by and hope for anything?" beyond the fact that she had never heard her maker speak in such ways, Faith feared what could happen to the ancient vampire if she were to just sit back and hope for the best. Besides Paul, Mihaela was the only family she had ever really known. She was her mother, her friend, and sometimes even her lover more than she was some figure to be respected and obeyed at all times. Even without the hold the woman had on her, Faith felt loyal to her because she had saved her from herself. From a life that only tore her down, and created a darkness within her that not even simply being a vampire could result in.

"I'm not sitting by, I'm giving them you, which will inevitably lead them to me anyways. You are the link between our two worlds. This is your destiny, and I truly believe that now. Otherwise, why would you and I have ever even crossed paths to begin with? Both of our lives, before and after death, have lead us to this moment. I can no longer be naïve and think that I am something that is forever, and you can no longer be naïve and think that you're just some random creature that happened to come into existence. No vampire has ever been the maker of your kind, and because of that I constantly walk around with a target on my head, just as you do. Soon, everyone will know what you are. We cannot hide in the shadows forever."

* * *

Buffy walked out of the restroom that was connected to the room she was staying in at the Boston headquarters, having finally gotten to shower and put on fresh clothing, "I just don't think it'd be a good idea, Will."

"But Buffy, she tried to rape you," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed, "I mean, if that's not a big sign screaming 'I'm evil' I don't know what is," for a moment, her mind wandered to Spike, but that was a whole different situation. It wasn't like Faith had been pining over Buffy for years, made a mistake, and then righted her wrong by getting a soul and sacrificing herself.

"God, Will it wasn't like that," turning her back to the other woman, she made her way to the window to look out on the busyness of the city, "I mean, it was but…" part of her started to wonder what would have happened if she would have told Faith to stop; would she have just had her way with her, or would she have actually listened and walked away? But there was no way to know that now, because she hadn't told her to stop, "I didn't-I didn't exactly try to stop her."

"Struggling against someone as powerful as her would have probably only excited her even more, anyways. It's understandable that it probably seemed like a better idea to just wait and hope that you'd make it out, or that someone would come in, but that doesn't mean it's your fault. She knew you wouldn't be able to stop her, and you saying no-"

"That's just it," she brought her hands to her face, rubbing it roughly in frustration, "I didn't say anything. I didn't fight back, and I didn't tell her to stop-"

"Buffy, she glamour-"

"No, okay. She knew that I-" approaching a moment she had hoped to always avoid, she took a deep breath. The combination of being tired and confused was starting to be a bit overwhelming, and Willow pushing for revenge was only making it that much worse when she herself wasn't even sure what had happened in the interrogation room, "You were right about me not telling you the truth about my dreams," she paused to sit down next to her, "We don't always just walk around and hang out, or got out to eat. We…there's touching. Lots and lots of touching. Touching that doesn't usually involve much clothing."

Willow gasped, "I knew it. You blushed way too much when you talked about the two of you going to the movies," she said, using air quotes.

"We did go to the movies. We just weren't exactly watching the movie, and then the whole theater erupted in violence, and ruined everything," her friend's brows rose, and she found herself blushing again. To her surprise, revealing the truth about her dreams did take a huge load off of her shoulders, "But it's not just the sex in the dreams, because sometimes we do just do things…like patrolling, and going out to eat, or just talking wherever. And now I have all these feelings. When I'm around her I can't help but feel everything for her that I feel in my dreams…lusty feelings included."

"So in the interrogation room you two were…?"

"I don't know. Once her hands were free-"

"Which I still don't understand at all and must do much research on," she thought for a moment, "Anyways, you were saying…"

"Well, after her hands were free and she wrapped my arm - which by the way she made me thank her for like she was doing _me _a favor - I'm suddenly bending over the table and she's all over me, and saying all this stuff."

"Like what?"

"That she knew I wanted to…" her eyes bulged, "You know. She said that she saw it in my eyes at the club, and that she could feel me watching her from the roof when her and that other vamp were having sex."

"Kennedy said she looked, too," Willow shrugged, "She said it didn't look so pleasant, but-"

"I didn't just look," Buffy admitted, "I watched them. For very very long moments at a time. When I was leaning on that table, as much as I knew I shouldn't have, I wanted her to keep going. I just kept thinking about all the dreams I had had, and no matter how much I told myself to at least try to stop her, I just couldn't do it. Now, I'm wondering if she actually would have stopped if I would have said anything. Basically, we're still at square one," there was a knock at the door, "Who is it?"

"Come back later," Willow said, quickly.

"It's Lucy, we were supposed to have a meeting today," the girl shouted, through the door, "I'm the one that's been giving tips on Faith Lehane."

Buffy gave Willow a look, "We'll finish talking later," she whispered before looking back to the door, "Come in," in all honesty, she was surprised to see the that the same girl that had stormed into the interrogation room. In her haze, she hadn't heard Mimi address her at all.

"I hope you're feeling a bit better now," Lucy smiled, walking over to the mirror in the room, "You mind if I pull up a chair? That way we won't have to worry about going down to the conference room. There's a line of girls just waiting in the hall, it's a good thing Ms. Rosenberg did that soundproofing spell."

"Uh, go ahead," Buffy said, with a small smile. She watched as the girl pulled the chair up close to the bed, and set her weapons on the floor. Remembering the girl twirl them earlier that morning and then release two blades, she frowned, "Can I ask…what kind of weapons are those?"

"Oh," she picked them up, excitedly, "They're one of a kind really. Someone hand crafted them for me a few years back, when I was first called. Been carrying around with me ever since. Usually, they're in a bag, but it's in the wash. A demon burst all over the place a few nights ago, and it's taking a while to get all the guts off. I can show you how to use them later, if you'd like."

"That'd be great, I guess," the girl's good mood, and fast talk was throwing Buffy for a loop. She had traveled to the southern United States only a few times, and not many times had she encountered a peppy slayer there, but every time she did she found herself a little thrown back.

"We were wanting to put a face to the slayer that's been giving us so many leads on Faith," Willow said, practically matching the girl's upbeat mood, "As you know, this is Buffy, and I'm Willow."

"I'm Lucy Manheim, I transferred to this district a few years ago from Mississippi," she shook both their hands, "It's a privilege to meet you both. It's a slayer's dream to meet the great Buffy Summers and Willow Rosenberg. But I'll stop with the flattery, and get straight to business. I'm betting me popping up with all this information is a bit odd to you two, because you've never even heard of Ms. Lehane - don't mind me calling her that, I'm a southern girl - but I've been tracking her family of vamps for the past few months. It was only yesterday that it came to my attention that she wasn't just an ordinary vampire."

"Family of vamps?" Buffy questioned.

"Yes, mainly their newest edition, a baby vamp named Elizabeth that has a bit of a reputation of having a wild streak and not giving a damn about whatever rules and regulations the new vampire government even puts into place."

"Big surprise," Willow scoffed.

"I know, right," the girl rolled her eyes, "My mission was to first just find her and take her out, but then she ended up with Ms. Lehane's family of vampires and I decided to take a step back, and find out what's really going on. Total, there's only four of them, which is pretty small for a vamp family but they seem to like to keep to themselves. First, I could only catch a glimpse of her with the only guy of the group- Paul Newman, a young looking, dark hair, medium height."

Buffy nodded, "Probably the guy that was at Faith's apartment."

"Oh he's _very_ fond of her," she winked, "Anyways, after a few weeks, I was finally able to figure out who their leader was - and this is information you'll like. They're followers of Mihaela Jochem-Krasovec, also known as-"

"Mother Mihaela, the oldest known female vampire," Willow finished, looking away in thought, "She was our first lead when we heard about the rising army, but it didn't pan out because she was rumored to have recently been killed…which we just thought ruled her out completely."

"Well, she's definitely still in the living-dead category. It's just that she's been in hiding since she became a maker again to hide from anyone that would want to harm her child - vampire child I mean - or even kill her for creating something that may seem like an abomination to her kind, especially seeing that she's an elder."

"An abomination?" Buffy questioned.

"She's Ms. Lehane's maker; the first and only vampire to create a slayer-vampire hybrid. That's _really _big. Once the other elders find out, they may kill her and Faith, along with Paul, Elisabeth, and any other vampire for knowing and not notifying them."

* * *

Faith stretched and turned over, not at all surprised to find Mihaela watching her, "You always do that," she laughed, "It kinda creeps me out."

The woman smiled, propping herself up on her elbow to pear down at the other woman, not at all bashful as her silk sheets fell from her bare shoulders, "Does it?" she asked, grazing a hand over Faith's shoulder, which was also bare.

"Yep, and you know I don't scare so easy," she said, taking Mihaela's hand into her own and giving it a kiss. The ancient vamp closed her eyes as she did so, a smile still played across her lips.

"I wish you did sometimes," she sighed, "But I guess you wouldn't be you if you did," lowering herself slightly, she removed her hand from Faith's, wrapping her arm around the slayer-vampire's waist instead, "I remember when I first set eyes on you-"

"Oh God…" Faith laughed.

"Shush," the older vampire laughed, "I was out with Jason," she spat, but then her voice was calm again, "We were on the way to confront Kakistos about his lackeys breaking onto our grounds, of course you had killed him already - thank goodness - and there you were. Laying in a puddle of your own blood, on top of his pile of dust, barely even alive. You had killed him and all of his followers single handedly, I knew you were something special."

"Yeah, a slayer," she interjected.

"Not just a slayer. I had seen slayers; fought them, killed them even - in my more youthful days. You were more than that, and I knew it even then. When I kneeled at your side, you said to me - go ahead and kill me you bitch," she laughed, "Even at your moment of death, you were talking shit. No begging, or trying to crawl away desperately like most slayers in their time of death. You showed no fear, which is more than even most vampires can do facing the true death. I thought, wow what is this creature I have here at my feet? I can either let this moment go to waste and walk away with a belly full of slayer blood, or I can spend the rest of my undead life getting to know whatever lied beneath that strong exterior."

"And still leave with a ton of my blood in your system," Faith added, jokingly.

"Very true," she laughed, "And I did think of that, too, but when I asked you if you had anything to live for and you said just a drug addict bitch of a mother, I caught a glimpse of you. For a split second you rethought your willingness to die, and that's when I knew you were worthy. That the fates had lead me to you. You were exactly what I needed; what I had been searching for, for thousands of years. You were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. So I lifted you up," she moved her hand to Faith's neck, lifting her up as she herself sat up a bit, "and promised you everything you could ever want - everything I saw within you already - loyalty, forgiveness, passion, and immortality."

Faith stared into the woman's eyes, feeling the weight of the moment and seeing the love in her eyes. They may not have been in each other's lives for very long, but they both knew that they were everything to each other, "I'd kill them all before I'd let anything happen to you," she whispered.

"I'd do the same for you," she kissed her gently, and pulled back when Faith tried to deepen it further, "You've got to go."

"Right," after kissing her maker one last time, Faith got out of the bed and began to get dressed, smiling at the feel of Mihaela's eyes watching her.

"She'll come to you again tonight," noticing the hesitancy in Faith's movement, she laid back on the bed with a laugh, "Play nice."

"Only for you," Faith grinned. She put on her shoes, ran her fingers through her hair and then headed for the door, "I'll come back later," she said, before leaving the room.

Mihaela's smile faded, "No, you won't."

* * *

Buffy walked into the bar, immediately recognizing it from her dreams. Most recently, the one where she found herself about to stake Faith. A couple of heads turned in her direction, both vampire and human, and she wondered if her dark hair was helpful at all in disguising who she was, but no one said or did anything. After a moment, they all just looked away as she made her way over to the bar, finding Faith exactly where Lucy said she would be.

"So, you really do work here?" she asked.

Faith froze with her back to the slayer, "How'd you find me?" she asked, already knowing the answer really.

"The usual, slayer spies," taking a seat, she removed her jacket, "Seeing that we didn't really get to talk this morning, I thought maybe we could try this again."

"Let me guess, first question - Do I have a soul?"

"Do you?" Buffy asked, hoping to get a yes in return.

"You know, it's never really been proven that it's the soul that makes you feel things. It really depends on who you were as a human being, because it itself is a piece of your humanity. If you were someone that would feel guilty about killing someone when you were alive, then you'll probably feel a bit of regret as a vampire if your soul is somehow forced back into you. But, if you weren't the guilt feeling type, then you ain't gonna feel a thing."

"So you're still not going to answer the question," she said, matter of fact.

"Bingo. Now, why don't you just run along. Killing on the premises is not aloud, so there's no need for a slayer to be here," she finished making a drink and handed it to an actual customer, "Here ya go," she smiled.

"Fine, don't answer the question, then," Buffy shrugged, "There are other ways of finding out."

"Magic isn't aloud here either, sorry," she put her hands on the counter, leaning in Buffy's direction, "Why don't you use your slayer spies to find out whatever it is you're looking for, and leave me the fuck alone."

"You don't really want me to do that, because if you do I'll go to the source to find out what I need to know about you. In fact, that way I can get _all _the information I've been looking for. I'm sure Mihaela would-" Faith reached for her, grabbing her by the collar of her shirt and pulling her forward, "See, I thought that'd get your attention," Buffy said, confidently

"Watch it slayer, you have no idea who you're messing with," growling, she pushed the woman away from her, "My shift ends a few hours before dawn, you can meet me outback if you want, but I'm not talking to you about her here."

"Fine," Buffy said, crossing her arms, "I'll wait."

Faith huffed, "You do that," she went over to the assortment of alcohols, and pulled out a glass, "Here," she turned back to Buffy, placing the glass in front of her before placing a blue umbrella in it, "You seem like the girly drink type."

Buffy eyed the glass and umbrella, noting its familiarity, "Uh…"

Sensing the slayer's worries, Faith took a gulp of the drink, "See, it's safe. I prefer you not make me look suspicious to the boss by sitting here staring at me. You slayer, I vampire. Usually leads to a bit of a rumble."

"Oh, right," Faith turned to continue serving other customers, and Buffy took a deep breath, "Right."

Willow walked into the interrogation room, which she had requested not be disturbed after the events of earlier that morning, "I need to figure out how Buffy's blood broke my spell," she said, glancing over her shoulder at Lucy, who was holding a few of her supplies, "I've never heard of slayers blood possessing spell breaking capabilities, but I'm guessing that someone as ancient as Mihaela may know a bit more about magic and slayer blood than I do."

"I'm sure," Lucy agreed, "You can't be that old and not have a few tricks up your sleeve. Where would you like me to set up your…uh, stuff here?" she lifted her arms, gesturing to the contents in them, "I'm not always so helpful in the magic realm, it was my least favorite class in Mississippi, but I'm sure I could do something."

"No, that's okay. Most slayers aren't so much into the magic aspect of the world, for some reason. Just set it down on the part of the table that doesn't have blood in it, and try not to step in any of the blood around the table, either."

"Yes ma'am," smiling, she sat everything down on the table, "Is that all?"

"Yep, Xander's going to come down after he's done doing manly things…aka finishing the level of whatever game he's currently obsessed with."

Lucy laughed, "Alright, well have a good night."

"You too," Willow said, as she kneeled to get a closer look at the blood on the table.

Seeing that the woman was completely occupied with what she was doing, Lucy turned to walk out of the room, pulling out a handkerchief that she had placed in her braw. She took a sharp left outside the door, and then put her back against the wall, taking a moment to spit on the piece of fabric before quickly wiping off the blood that was on the interrogation room's door frame, "Sorry, couldn't let you find that," she looked at the small cut on her hand, "Not at all."


	4. A Test of Will

__

Buffy jumped, her eyes darting open and instantly landing on Faith. The brunette was sitting across the table from her, holding a deck of cards face down.

_"My life is at a standstill." Faith said, as she started to separate the deck into two piles. "Buildings keep going up." She shuffled the deck, evening them out with a loud clack against the table, "But I'm still here." Clack, clack, clack. _

_Letting her eyes finally leave the slayer-vampire, Buffy started to look around. "Where is here, exactly?" she asked, her surroundings a strange blur of black and red. Faith didn't answer her question. Instead, she began to lay out a few cards, pulling Buffy's eyes to the table. _

_First, she laid down the Queen of Hearts. Next, she laid down the King of Spades, and then a Joker card across the King. "This is the one you're looking for," she said, pointing to the King and Joker. _

_But Buffy's eyes drifted back to the Queen. _

_"Hey." Faith pointed emphatically at the King and Joker. "Hey."_

"Hey, wake up."

Buffy's eyes sprung open to an image of Faith bursting into flame. Sealing her eyes shut, she shook her head over and over, opening them again only when she began to feel lightheaded. Upon opening them, her and Faith made direct eye contact. The slayer-vampire had leaned over towards her, putting her pale hands on the table of the booth Buffy had eventually moved to while waiting for her to get off of work. For a few moments they stared at one another, until Buffy quickly averted her eyes, remembering the technique that Faith acquired.

Faith stood up straight with an arched brow. She gestured for the slayer to stand. "Come on, I have to lock the place up." They walked out the front door of the place, Faith locking it behind them. "Just a sec, my boss is gonna come around from the back to get the key, then we can go somewhere and talk."

"Okay," Buffy said, wrapping her arms around herself to fight off the chill. She let her eyes land anywhere but on Faith, unable to even feign the confidence she had had when she arrived at the bar earlier that night. It hadn't been her intention to fall asleep, but her lack of actual rest was finally starting to catch up with her – more than it had when Faith glamored her earlier that morning. For once she wasn't so concerned with knowing what her dream meant as much as she was of what had happened when she woke up. Had she even truly woken up, and why had she seen the woman beside her engulfed in flames? Then there was the fact that Faith hadn't been asleep. She didn't even want to go there.

"Here he is," Faith said, nodding towards a heavy set man walking towards them from around the corner of the bar.

"Your girl was out back," he said holding up a medium sized black bag, and handing it to Faith in exchange for the keys, "Tomorrow night. On time." Turning to walk away, he mumbled, "I just don't understand how a vampire that fast can be late to work so much."

"Oh stop complaining, I'm what they all come to see," she laughed. Opening the bag, a grin slowly spread across her lips. She lifted the wine bottle that was within the bag, admiring the blood it held."Still warm." Placing it back in the bag, she turned to Buffy, "Your place or mine?"

Hoping that her hard gulp wasn't as loud to Faith as it was to her, Buffy started to walk into the night. "I was thinking that staying outdoors would be best." Going to Faith's place definitely wasn't an option, and after the incident in the interrogation room Mimi had demanded that all invitations to the slayer-vampire be renounced. Since it was the young woman's territory after all, Willow had complied.

"Fine with me," Faith said shrugging as she too began to walk, though she made sure her pace was a tad bit faster than the shorter woman so she was at least in charge of where they were heading. She was more than aware of the team of slayers that were tracking them from a few yards away, but more importantly she was also aware of the group of vampires that were close behind the team. As easy as it was for her to feel life around her, it was just as easy for her to feel death. "So you gonna tell me what the hell that was back there?"

Thinking at first that maybe Faith had heard one of the slayers tracking them Buffy began to panic; her hand moving to hover above her jacket pocket where a stake laid in wait. The likeliness of her getting an actual killing strike in may have been low, but if Faith was suddenly going to make a move to kill her or one of the other slayers she was going to do her damnedest to try to kill her before she got the chance.

"The mini heart attack you had when I woke you up," Faith further explained, noticing Buffy's slight move of her hand. "I thought maybe me glamoring you so easily would teach you a lesson on the importance of sleep. Obviously not."

"I got some sleep after-" her mind drifting to last moments of their encounter before Lucy had stormed in caused a tight clenching in her stomach, cutting her off. She dared not look in the direction of the woman beside her when she heard a slight chuckle emit. "After you left," she finally managed. "It's just been a long couple of days."

She glared at the slayer. "Fine, go ahead and lie to me. I don't care. But I don't know why you'd expect me to tell you anything when you can't even tell me the truth about your sleeping habits. I'm a 'it works both ways' type of girl. You ain't okay with that, then we have nothing to say to each other. You have no authority where I'm concerned, got it?"

Buffy met her eyes for a moment, seeing the seriousness within them. "Got it." Faith looked away from her to her relief. Even without being glamored, she found it hard to look away from those eyes. "Why even talk to me then?" she asked.

"Because you're going around opening your big mouth about people that you have no business knowing about, let alone talking about. And instead of actually thinking things through just a little bit you're letting that pesky little slayer in you jump the gun. Plus, if I want to get you off my back without ripping your head off and then having a whole world of slayers coming to kill me, along with your witch bit—friend, then I'm guessing I should just feel things out a bit."

Surprised that they had ended up at a cemetery, Buffy hesitated before following Faith into its gates.

"You might wanna take out that stake now," she said, nonchalantly. "Mine as well go out on a little hunt while we're out. It's been a few weeks for me."

"You still patrol?" Buffy asked pulling out her stake and letting her eyes scan her surroundings.

"Killing a bunch of vamps gets a lot less attention," she half-joked. "But lets not go there. You brought up someone that you should never mention in public."

She glanced over at Faith again, this time finding her face completely unreadable, "Your maker." Without turning to look at her, Faith eyed her from the corner of her eye. She stared down at her intently, and for a moment Buffy felt like she had suddenly became the slayer-vampire's prey.

"The one and only." she started to focus on her surroundings again, sensing that the a few of the vampires that had been further back than the stalking slayers move around to instead meet them dead on, which told her two things: one, the slayers' senses were obviously so consumed by the feel of her presence and power that they were unable to feel the large group of vampires that were closing in, and two the vampires weren't looking for a fight with the slayers—they were tracking her. "You're going to ask me if she's the leader of whatever vampire army you've been hearing about, am I right?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Buffy frowned, sensing a change in the air. She slowed her pace, getting more into a fighting stance. "Something isn't right."

"You don't say," Faith said, sarcastically as she came to a stand still. "She doesn't deal with the _other _vampires, it's not her style. And they ain't exactly a big fan of hers, either. I can't tell you what exactly is going on in Boston lately, but I sure as hell ain't involved, so you can just back off."

Buffy shook her head. "Actually, I can't. How am I supposed to know you're not lying to me? That this whole thing wasn't a trap?" she asked, seeing a group of vampires step out of the shadows of the graveyard. Knowing that her sister-slayers weren't far behind them, Buffy didn't feel so panicked at the sight of more and more vampires walking towards them—a totally of eight so far. But she couldn't help but wonder had she walked into something bigger than she had than she had thought. "If this isn't a trap, when this it's over I want to meet her."

The first vampire rushed forward, heading directly for Faith and confirming her suspicions about the group being after her. He was faster than she expected, scaling the place in almost a blink of the eye, but she was faster. She caught him by the head, pulling it straight off. "Never gonna happen."

Slightly horrified, for a moment Buffy lost her focus and missed the vampire that was coming towards her. The black haired female vamp knocked her off her feet, sending her flying into a nearby headstone; it crumbling from the force of the impact.

Faith laughed, "You may not even make it past tonight. They're juiced up on some pretty good blood."

Shaking the debris off her clothes and out of her hair, Buffy got back into a fighting stance, "Don't worry about me. There's more heading our way." All the vampires rushed them at them at once, and Buffy expected to see her team of slayers rush in to lend a helping hand, but there was no other slayer in sight. '_Where the hell are they?'_ she thought, ducking beneath the arm of one vampire and staking another only to be kicked in the side by yet another one. She fell to one knee, blocking a punch to the face before rolling to the side and kicking the feet from under one of her enemies.

Licking her lips, Faith raised her arms, "Is that all you've fucking got?" she asked, after taking out three of them back to back. "Pathetic," she spat, just as another group rushed forward, "Looks like they've sent the whole army. You do exist after all. Here I was thinking it was all speculation."

Buffy on the other hand wasn't finding the task so easy. After taking a hard blow to the stomach, she found herself unable to pull in another breath for quite a while; feeling the tension in her face that let her know that it was turning shades of red and purple. But just when the vampire thought he was about to get in its final blow, she was able to draw in a deep breath and dodge his fast moving fist, elbowing him in the stomach and then uppercutting him hard in the jaw. She could hear it shatter, and she a bitter laugh escaped her now bloodied mouth as she next slammed his head against her knee before staking him through his back. She looked over at Faith who was fighting with a crazed smile on her face, obviously toying with her opponents, but there was one behind her that had other ideas and was merely inches away from plunging a broken branch into her back. Feeling the rush of the moment, Buffy threw her stake across the graveyard sending it directly through the vampire's back.

Faith turned, catching the falling stake in her hand and plunging it into the remaining vampires that she had been facing. When she turned to look in Buffy's direction, whether to express gratitude or show that she was impressed she didn't know, and she didn't have much time to think about it spotting a big vamp sneaking up on the smaller woman. She darted across the graveyard, jumping over headstones and passing Buffy before the slayer could even notice that she had moved, staking the vamp before he could strike. Then she turned just as quickly and ran up behind the woman, wrapping an arm around her neck with a tight grip, and backing up so that her back was up against a mausoleum. She slid down its cold outer wall, pulling Buffy down with her and settling the woman between her legs.

"Shhh," she said, into the slayer's ear.

"Buffy!" Kennedy yelled from a far, unable to see Faith and Buffy on the other side of the mausoleum.

Buffy tried hitting and pulling on Faith's arm, but it was no use and she was slowly starting to see spots of black in her vision. Her mind was racing, and full of confusion, but she managed to remember something Willow had given her just in case things started to go really wrong. She moved to reach into her jacket pocket, pulling out a dark green gem lookalike that Willow had told her to simply crush to teleport herself somewhere else. They weren't exactly sure where she'd end up, but it'd be within a five mile radius, and Buffy was okay with risking it.

However, before she could crush it in her quickly weakening hand Faith bent her own knee and firmly placed a foot on the Buffy's wrist. "Now now, none of that. I don't want to have to shatter that pretty little wrist of yours into a million pieces. No amount of slayer healing could fix that, sweetheart. Just relax."

Releasing the gem from her hand, Buffy let her eyes slowly close, feeling her untimely return to her world of dreams.

Faith loosened her grip, poking her head around to check Buffy's face just to make sure she was out. Seeing that she was, she gently laid the slayer down before moving to get the bag with her bottle of blood – which she had somewhat hidden behind a headstone before all the vampires came rushing out. Putting the strap across her shoulder, she walked back over to the sleeping slayer, staring down at her relaxed expression. Then she pulled her into her arms and took off, just as hurried footsteps approached.

"Buffy!" Kennedy ran around the mausoleum, sure that she'd spot the woman there along with Faith who she had felt just moments ago, but neither of them were anywhere to be seen and every second that ticked by she felt the slayer-vampire less and less. "Fuck," she stomped slightly, only to groan in pain. Her head was pounding from a blow to the head, and there was a nice cut on her staking hand.

Mimi, who moved with a slight limp and had a deep cut under her right eye, rushed towards her fellow slayer, the rest of the team not far behind her. Only one of them had been severely hurt, to her relief. "They're gone."

"Thanks, I can fucking see that," Kennedy fumed. "Just fucking great."

"Let's just head back to headquarters and get your girl to do a locator spell," Mimi said, annoyed by Kennedy's sarcastic remark. They were all tired, frustrated, and worried. She watched as Kennedy moved to take a few steps, and suddenly noticed something that was on the ground. Before Miimi could fully register what it was, Kennedy's foot was set to land on it. "Watch out," she yelled, but it was too late. Kennedy vanished in a bright light of green, forcing Mimi to shade her eyes until the light was gone. She sighed, "Fantastic."

* * *

Xander closed yet another file, pushing it aside and grabbing another one. "So what exactly should I be looking for here?"

Willow too closed yet another file, but she grabbed a couple more instead of one. "Well, I tried a few revealing spells, and I tried reading a bunch of texts to see if there was anything on slayer's blood holding some kind of mystical energy – beyond the super strength, and speed – but nothing turned up. The revealing spells only showed that my magic was in the interrogation room, and none of the old texts said anything that we haven't already heard before; into every generation blah blah blah. So I was hoping one of the files the old Council hid away would maybe give us a clue as to what happened this morning."

"Which, what is it with the undead trying to get into the Buffster's pants?" He asked, gesturing dramatically. "And what's up with her being all la di da, it's no big deal – Let's go find them and not kill them? 'Cause me, I'm all for the killing."

"It's complicated," she said, with a shake of her head. She wished that she could tell him, or that Buffy had told him about the whole Faith haunting her dreams thing. But the only reason she had even known in the first place was because she had been forced to enter Buffy's mind against her will years before. "And we need to know who's in charge of this army of vampires. If it's not Faith, and it's not her maker, then they may know who it is."

"And what's the likeliness they're going to sell out their own kind to a bunch of slayers?"

She closed the folder and looked to her friend, who was looking to her for an answer. "I don't think they're part of that world. From what Lucy said, Mihaela has tried to stay away from it since she turned Faith. The vampire world's hate for slayers may run a bit deeper than the modern day slayer's hate for vampires. Having a vampire out there that is also a slayer might make them more than a bit angry. Lucy says they'd see Faith as an abomination, and would probably kill her and Mihaela."

"So not being popular makes it okay for you to rape someone?"

"Xander," she glared.

Dawn walked into the room with a stack of folders in her arms. "This is the last of them. Here at least. We've got the girls back home checking the rest of them out. Have you heard from Buffy or Kennedy?"

Just as Willow as about to answer with a concerned no, Mimi and the team walked in. Willow noticed how battered and torn they all looked, and then instantly noticed who was missing. "Where's Kennedy?" she asked, getting to her feet.

"And Buffy?" Dawn added.

"Kennedy accidentally stepped on that gem you gave Buffy, so she's wherever it sent her, and Buffy..." she trailed off for a moment, "We're not sure. A big group of vamps attacked us while we were tracking her and that hybrid, we lost track of them."

"Maybe she's a little more popular than you thought," Xander said, angrily. "Maybe her vampire goons attacked the girls so she could kidnap Buffy and finish what she started."

"What are we going to do?" Dawn said, panicking.

"I'll do a spell to find Buffy and Kennedy. You girls go get some rest-"

"Sorry, I can't do that," Mimi interrupted. "If that asshole is behind this, I'm not resting until she's taken out."

"Fine, you can do whatever you want," Willow continued, "but you being this tired and beat up probably isn't going to do us any good. The rest of you get some rest, we'll get a few of the other girls to come with us to find them. Dawn I need you to take over reading these files."

"What? No, I'm going to help find Buffy. I can help," Dawn insisted.

"Look, we really don't have time to argue about this, and we need to know how Faith used Buffy's blood to escape. Don't worry, we'll bring her back," she assured, "Come on Xander."

"This isn't fair," Dawn yelled as they left the room. "I'm not some helpless thing, I can help," she said again, but no one turned to respond. She sat down at the table, looking over the piled stacks of folders, "Screw this." After a few minutes of peeking out into the hallway, Dawn quickly left the stacks of folders behind. There were many weapon rooms in the mansion from what she could remember, and she was sure that all of the slayers heading out with Willow would go to the one closest to all the rooms. "I'll go to the one in the east wing," she said, moving through the halls.

Minutes later, she finally reached her destination. She pushed open one of the large double doors, and made her way through the main – emergency – weapon room. Everywhere she looked there were black metal shelves with drawers full of various weapons, each one separated by category, and size. Looking for one weapon specifically, she read the labels on the outer edges of the shelves, "Ah, crossbows. Just what I'm looking for." Heading down the isle, she next searched for the right size. However, when she turned the corner that would lead to her weapon of choice, she found that she wasn't alone.

"Well hey there," Lucy smiled, giving a small wave.

Dawn returned the small wave nervously. "Hey."

"Looking for a crossbow I'm guessing," Lucy said, looking at the drawers she was standing in front of. "You heading out with the team that's leaving?"

At first, she thought lying and saying yes would be her best bet, but then her anger at not being included in the first place got the best of her. "Look, I know that nobody thinks that I can help in the field, but there is no way in hell I'm going to sit by and let some psycho freak turn my sister into a first class meal. And if you've got a problem with me being out there, like most of the snotty slayer's I've met, I really don't give a damn. So you can either get out of my way, and pretend like you never saw me, or," she paused to take a breath, giving a forced smile, "Or you could help me find the crossbow I'm looking for."

Lucy's brows, which had risen during Dawn's little tirade, finally fell back to their resting place. "Well I can't help you find what you're looking for, but—" she quickly continued, seeing Dawn's expression of disappointment."I can help you find what you need, and I don't mean just in the weapon's department. Now, I'm not trying to tag along, so hear me out."

Dawn folded her arms in response, the thought of the slayer wanting to come with her already sounding like just another slayer telling her she wasn't good enough.

"I've been tracking Faith and her family of vamps for months now. If there's anybody that can track her down, it's definitely going to be me. I understand you wanting to find your sister, and if I can help any way – woman to woman, not slayer to civilian – I want to do whatever I can. I was supposed to be off for the night, because according to some I've been out there a little too much lately, but if you'd be willing to let me come with you..."

"Okay," she nodded, "Sure."

A large smile spread across her lips, "Good. Now let me get you just what you need."

* * *

Buffy's eyes slowly opened to a ceiling of brick and black platforms. She laid there staring up with a frown on her face, a question of where she was making its way into her brain. It didn't look like any of the rooms in Scotland, and she couldn't remember any of the ceilings of the country's she had visited looking like the one above her either. '_Where am I?' _she wondered, still studying the brick's. Trying to think back on what she had been doing before she got to wherever she was, she began to backtrack from what she could remember, _'I went for a jog. It was nice. I had time to think about what I was going to eat for lunch, and what routine I was going to teach the girls. When I got back, Kennedy's truck was there. There were some files...Faith.'_

She sat up, everything rushing back to her from the moment she had set eyes on the photograph of Faith. Looking around, she found herself sitting on a mat in the middle of a hardwood floored room. There were weapons on a far wall, and for a moment she wondered if she was back in Sunnydale, but as soon as she turned to look behind herself she knew she was nowhere near the dust-bowl that was once her home. On a bench a few feet behind her Faith laid on her back, hands joined together on her stomach, and her eyes closed.

Buffy looked back to the weapon's on the far wall, and decided that the distance was too great for her to risk it. Then, she noticed her jacket near the bench with her stake hanging halfway out of her pocket. Despite how tired and weak she felt, she got up and ran for it, managing to grab the stake and raise it high above the slumbering woman's chest. She moved to plunge it into the brunette's chest when the hands from Faith's belly moved to stop her a mere inch short. Next thing she knew, she was being flung across the room, hitting the brick wall hard and falling to the ground with just as much force.

Faith walked over to a small counter a few feet away from the bench, picking up some tape to wrap her hands. "Damn, I was hoping you'd at least sleep through the day. You'd think after not sleeping for days, you'd be out like a light after that hold I put you in. But nope. Just my fucking luck lately. You didn't even make it till dawn."

"I wish I could say that I felt sorry for you," she groaned, rubbing her back. Watching as Faith wrapped her hands, she noticed that the woman was no longer in her usual tight and black attire. Instead, she wore loose fitting workout pants, and a tank top. Buffy looked down at herself and noticed she was wearing something very similar. "Uh, how exactly did I end up in this?"

Having finishing wrapping her hands, Faith slowly approached the smaller woman, tossing her the tape while wiggling her eyebrows. "No worries, I didn't see anything you wouldn't want me touching. Oh wait..."

Determined not to blush or let her mind even wander in that direction, Buffy began to wrap her hands. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Thought we'd have a little fun," she grinned. "See, I noticed something back at the graveyard. It got me thinking about you, and you know – how weak you are. I thought to myself, this chick sure as hell isn't the legend she carries. I mean, just look at how you handle yourself around me. When you aren't letting me feel you up, you're getting tossed around like a wet rat from the sewer. Fucking nasty." Pressing her hands together, she popped her knuckles loudly. "You're a slayer, and I'm a slayer-vampire, you should at least be half as fast. Half as strong. But you're not."

She tossed the tape aside and got to her feet, flexing her hands repeatedly until they felt comfortable. "So what, you decided to bring me here so you can further prove your own point. I get it, you're faster and stronger. Let's not celebrate."

Faith laughed, "Oh this isn't a celebration, sweetheart. You see, the vampires now, they've got you spoiled. They're not as fast or strong as vampires of the past, so you slayers now don't have to work or train as hard. You don't have to move faster than what can be seen, because they can't. And you don't have to be strong enough to go through walls, because they can't. Unless it's that plaster bullshit, and really, what fucking good do they do for anyone? They crumble all on their own."

"Still not getting why I'm here," Buffy said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Oh I think you're starting to get the hint though," Faith said, also moving into a fighting stance. "Give me all you've got, slayer." Buffy came out her with a combination of moves, first a few punches which were all blocked with ease, and then with a quick sweep which failed to do a thing. Faith was laughing already. "Oh _come on_. There's no way this is the legendary Buffy Summers I'm fighting. Dig a little deeper."

Buffy tried again, this time trying to pick up the pace quite a bit, but her muscles just wouldn't permit it. Every punch, kick, elbow, everything was blocked. Just when she thought that she'd maybe get a hit in, Faith would vanish from that spot, and eventually the slayer-vampire threw a punch back in return, knocking Buffy off of her feet.

"Get up. You're not even trying. I know what lives inside that body of yours. I feel it in me every moment of every single day, and I know-" Buffy suddenly tried a roundhouse kick, but Faith caught the slayer's foot just before it made contact with her chest. "What the fuck is this?" she asked, pushing Buffy back forcefully. She moved forward to backhand her, the impact sounding loudly and sending Buffy stumbling back against a wall. "If you could just reach down and pull her out." She punched her hard in the stomach, making her double over, but quickly grabbed her by the throat and forced her to stand up straight. They were eye to eye; Faith's full of intensity, and Buffy's full of desperation. "Do something," Faith yelled.

Buffy moved one of her grasping hands to Faith's forearm, but the move only seemed to further frustrate her opponent; Faith punched her in the mouth instantly splitting her lip, pulling a whimper out of her.

Faith began to slam her other forearm against Buffy's arm. She did it over and over, Buffy's whimper's growing louder as her face began to turn shades of purple. "Come on, slayer. Fucking do something, or this will be the last face that you'll ever see."

Feeling the fleeting moments become even more severe, a sudden wave of power rushed through her. She caught the arm that had been slamming into her own, and moving faster than she ever had in her life, she punched Faith square in the face two times before kicking her hard in the stomach, sending her flying back. But just when she thought she had accomplished something, Faith was back on her feet and only a few feet away from her once again.

Now with a bleeding nose, Faith laughed excitedly, "That's what I'm fucking talking about. Let's see if you've got a little bit more of that in you."

* * *

"We're going in fucking circles," Mimi said, angrily. "We've passed this same building five hundred times now. Obviously this tracking spell isn't doing much tracking."

Willow sighed, letting the ball of light they had been following go out. "She's right. This isn't working."

"Great," Xander threw down the sword in his hand. "So, what's plan B?"

"I don't know," Willow said, rubbing her forehead. "I guess we should find Kennedy, and then go back to headquarters to try a different kind of spell. I've already tried three different tracking spells, and they've all lead to looping around the city. It'll be daylight soon, and a bunch of people walking around with weapons is going to draw way too much attention."

"So we're just going to leave her to die, so we can go find your girlfriend?" Mimi asked. "You can do that, the girls and I-"

"You're not going to find her," Paul said, emerging before them. A few of the girls instantly ran towards him, each one failing to land a single blow. Though he could have killed them instantly, he instead tossed them aside, stepping over a few of them to approach the redhead, and the eye-patched man beside her who picked up the sword he had thrown just moments before."Don't bother," Paul said, putting his hands behind his back. "I'm obviously not here to kill anyone."

"What do you want?" Willow asked.

"The place you're looking for is obviously magically protected," he said, ignoring her question. "You've been walking in circles for a while now. Don't you get it? You're not going to find her." He noticed Willow move to raise her hand, and presuming she was going to perform some kind of magic, he quickly ran over to his hiding spot and then came back with Kennedy in hand. There was duct tape over her mouth, and her hands suffered the same fate behind her back, "Tsk tsk, don't want to do that."

Willow stopped all her movement. "No, _you_ don't want to do that."

He laughed dramatically. "You don't scare me, witch. I could snap her neck before you could even think do anything. I've had a lot of Faith's blood, and you might not of none this, but she's my maker so I'm already stronger and faster than most of the vampires you've ever encountered. And hey, I ain't afraid to die, so your revenge doesn't do shit for me either. You and your borrowed magic," he spat. "Fucking pathetic."

"I'm going to ask you one more time," the redhead said, through grit teeth. "What do you want?"

"Oh nothing, I was just delivering a package. I remember this one watching me from across the street when Faith and I were fucking, and thought – hey maybe I'll take the little bitch back to her lover. But take this as a warning. Back. The fuck. Off. Let the big girls play, and mind your own damn business." He pushed Kennedy forward, and vanished.

Xander let out a long held breath, as Willow moved to remove the duct tape from Kennedy's hands and mouth, and their small group of slayer's regrouped. "Well, that was pointless and obviously a distraction. We've gotta be close."

* * *

Buffy found herself pressed up against a wall, her face beginning to mimic the brick it rested against. She was breathing heavily as Faith wrenched her arm behind her, pushing her further against the wall. They had been going at straight for longer than she could even try think about. Her whole body ached, and she could already feel the bruises forming all over her body. Especially the one under her left eye, which Faith had nailed when she turned her back for a moment.

Faith pulled the slayer's arm harder behind her back. "Don't tell me you're done. I thought we were making progress." Though still excited, she had grown a bit more serious after Buffy had landed a couple more blows. "Just give me one more," she whispered.

It was a predictable move, and she knew it, but she moved to elbow the slayer-vampire anyways. The shot was one she knew she shouldn't have landed, one she knew was permitted to make contact, but it still did the job. And just for the sake of it, she hit Faith in the gut one last time, only to find herself knocked to the ground.

"Wow, a sucker punch after I let you get one in?" Faith asked, moving to straddle the other woman's hips, and pinning her hands to the mats beneath them. Buffy just gave a fake smile in return, and Faith lowered herself until her face was only inches above the slayer's. "Maybe now we can finish what we started yesterday," she grinned.

As tempting as the sound of a release was, especially after the workout slash beating she had just received, Buffy spoke before Faith could lean down any further. "Do you ever have dreams?" she asked, quickly. And Faith sat up slightly, staring down at her with a blank expression. "Dreams about me?" she continued. "About us?"

For a moment Faith just stared down at her, her expression still blank; the room falling oddly silent having just been filled with such violence. Then she got to her feet. "Don't mean to bruise your ego or anything, but I don't have dreams." She began to unwrap her hands, walking over to the small counter in the room. "Your clothes are over there. You can keep what you have on, so you won't have to change here."

Buffy stood up slowly, wincing at almost every move she made, "Why did you even bring me here?" she asked.

"I wanted to know if there was an actual reason why you felt like you could be around me without your life being in danger. If you were strong enough to be as bold as you are with me. Now I know, you're not. You can't hold your own against me. You're not a threat."

"That's it?" Buffy asked. "You put me through all of this—"

"You're not a threat, so if you meet with me five more times, I will take you to her," Faith finished. She picked up the slayer's clothes and tossed them into the bag that her bottle of blood had once been in. "You can go out the fire escape. No human's aloud through those doors after dawn," she said gesturing towards a small set of stairs that was covered in shadows next to the far wall. After picking up a knife with her free hand, she slowly walked Buffy over to the set of stairs.

"Thanks," Buffy said, once Faith handed her the bag.

"Let me check out that tooth in the back," Faith said, casually.

Buffy first frowned at the order, not liking being told to do something. Then there was the fact that she wasn't so sure what Faith's intentions were, especially seeing how the slayer-vampire had asked her as if it were normal. Like they were pals. She slowly said, "Okay."

Faith moved fast so the slayer couldn't see her. She pricked her finger with the knife and then laid the bleeding finger on the slayer's tongue for a split second. "There. It'll make the walk a bit less painful."

"Ick, gross," Buffy spat, but she did feel something strange wash over her and her pain was a bit dulled. "A little warning _would_ be nice."She climbed the stairs, placing her hand on the handle of the small door above her head. "So, all I have to do is see you five more times?" she asked.

"_I'll_ find you next time," Faith said, sternly.

Not saying another word, Buffy pushed open the door. The light blinded her, and she hesitated for a moment. They had been fighting for longer than she thought. When she was on the roof, she was shocked to see the skyline of downtown Boston. She laughed slightly, and then turned back to close the hatch. When she looked back down into the room she had expected to see no one there, since the sun was shining straight into the room. But Faith stood there with a hand barely covering her eyes. Smoke was rising from her skin, but she had a grin on her face that Buffy couldn't help but return. _"No flames today," _she thought.


	5. Faith Pt 1

Okay...this chapter was quite a pain to get out, so I hope it is worth the little bit of a wait. Thanks so much for the reviews last chapter! They were amazing and really kept me going when this chapter started to give me a hard time, so thank you thank you thank you. I think all of you guys will truly appreciate all that is this chapter, so buckle down...it's a longer than the usual chapter. The second part should be up soon. Thanks again.

Chapter Five: Faith pt. 1

She unwrapped her hands slowly, flexing her fingers and enjoying the feel of the blood in her veins rushing to circulate with more ease. The room felt strangely quiet, and its stillness drained her of all the excitement she had felt just moments before. Instead she felt as lifeless as the room she stood in. Like it, she didn't breath, which she hadn't really thought about for a long time. It was all of Buffy's panting, and gasping for air that had brought it to her attention. Somehow, she had found herself imitating the life before her; taking in long deep breaths just to remember what it felt like. Of course it felt nothing like actual breathing because there was no heart pushing and pulling in order to keep her body going under the strain she was in – which was barely any at all – but the sting in her lungs when she drew it all in nearly made her quiver at the knees. Life wasn't something she typically missed or envied, it was simply something that was gone and part of a past she'd rather not return to. But even being undead, she was subject to change.

_'Dreams about me? About us?' _Buffy's voice echoed through her again.

"Dreams..." she said, walking over to the low bench in the room to lay down. With a sigh, she let herself relax in preparation for the sleep she was pretty anxious to get, though she knew it would be a dreamless sleep. She wondered what Buffy's dreams were like. Were they as dark as her undead life, or worse like her actual life had been? She couldn't imagine them being full of lilies and sunshine. _"Maybe whiskey, blood, and sex,"_ she thought.

But there had been something in that moment. The way that Buffy looked at her while she waited for an answer; there was hope, and a tenderness that was so apparent that Faith longed to take into herself. To grasp and touch, and squeeze it until it burst into nothingness. Whatever the slayer saw at night, when her mind wondered into an unconscious subconsciousness, it couldn't have been as dark and ugly as Faith suspected they would have been. That bothered her. It bothered her that the dreams were just that and not nightmares that tormented and spread night after night, because if they weren't...If they were beautiful and lead to that tenderness and hope that Buffy held in her eyes, then she felt cursed to have not had them. To have stopped them in a simple act of acceptance.

* * *

- Boston, 1998 –

"You wanna get out of here?" she leered, running her hands up his thighs. She could feel him shiver, his muscles flex under her slender hands, the heat that grew as her hands moved higher and higher. He continued to look at her with the same idiotic grin he had warn since they had first started dancing. Like he, with his sly grin, had accomplished something. She let a hand pass over his dick, finding it hard and threatening to push through the material of his tight jeans. "I'll take that as a yes," she said, moving to whisper it in his ear.

"You can take it however you want," he said, moaning at the feel of her hand.

A few months ago she probably would have taken him up on the offer. She probably wouldn't have found his words so typically annoying, but as an opening to a night of sex followed by a swift blow off, and a good shower. Tonight however, as she took his hand and lead him out of the busy nightclub, she wasn't thinking about his boner and what _she_ could do with it. She wasn't thinking about how easy it was for her to get a guy by simply making him feel like it was her wanting him, when in reality it was _him _wanting her. Seduction was easy, and she played the game well, but she wasn't interested in toying around.

It had been three months since she had stepped foot into Boston territory, and there was no way she was planning on wasting the night on another mediocre lay. Tonight, she was on a whole different kind of prowl. She had gone to the same club she had gotten into some trouble at three months before. Some trouble she hoped to make right with the pointy end of her stake.

"So, where do you want to go?" he asked.

Faith leaned against the wall, pulling him to her by his belt loops. "Or we can just do it here."

He looked down at her, the grin still playing across his lips. His eyes were dilated, and his breathing was starting to pick up. "You're a fucking slut, aren't you?"

"Mmm, is this how you talk to all the girls?" She glanced over to the left, spotting what appeared to be another back alley couple about to go at it. The faint sound of their whispers filled her ears as she tried to concentrate her slayer hearing in their direction instead of wasting it on whatever the guy she was with – who was now starting to kiss her neck, and aggressively group her – was whispering to her. Once she heard the sound of a muffled scream, she pushed the guy off of her, _"That's my cue," _she thought.

"What the fuck?" the guy asked, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Don't tell me you're playing hard to get now." Another scream sounded, this time loud enough for him to hear as well. When Faith tried to obviously head in that direction, he grabbed her by the arm. "Come on, just leave it alone."

Faith jerked her arm away. "Sorry, I'm not quite the jackass you are." She once again started in the direction of what had appeared to be a couple just a few moments ago, and really an ordinary citizen might have bought it. They probably would have thought, oh just another sleaze getting a little too rough, or something like that. But Faith knew better. This was, after all, why she had gone to the club in the first place.

"Please. Please stop. I have money," the girl said desperately trying to push the vampire off of her, but he only laughed and held her in place.

"I don't think money's his thing," Faith said, to get their attention.

"Get out of here," the vamp said, not turning to look at who had interrupted his preparation for a meal.

Faith grabbed him, spinning him around to face her before pushing him against the wall. She looked over at the small black haired girl who was still leaning against the wall shaking. Her blouse was torn, but there were no puncture wounds in sight. "Get out of here," Faith said, with a nod towards the exit of the alley. The girl took off, and Faith focused her attention back on the vampire in front of her. "Well well well, look who it is."

"Slayer," he spat, trying to struggle his way out of her hold. It didn't work.

Faith had been watching him all night, waiting for him to go somewhere a little more private. It was typical and predictable. Vamps go out to crowded clubs, pick out someone of their taste, and then take a little bite out of them once they're alone. However, this was not just some random vampire who was out doing what vampires do. This one was special.

"I know, I know, you missed me, right? I mean, I've been gone for so long. But now, I'm back." She got into his face, her teeth grit, knuckles white from her hold on his shirt. "Where's Kakistos?"

"You're still on that?" he asked laughing nervously.

She punched him in the face. "What do you think?"

"I think you should let it go before you get yourself-"

She hit him again. "Wrong answer."

He moved a hand to his nose, gripping it as it began to bleed. "Shit. Fuckin...Shit."

"You said that already. How about you answer my question. Where is Kakistos?"

"Alright, alright. He's about two blocks east in the same kind of place he's usually held up in."

Factories, old warehouses, Faith knew the type. Somewhere a lot of light didn't get in, and a place where not too many humans were curious to intrude. "How many ass kissers does he have following him these days?"

"About ten, but a lot of us go out at night to pick up girls. He doesn't hunt for himself anymore. Not since you took out his eye."

"Good." There weren't many pleasant memories about that night, but being able to make an ancient vampire blind in one eye was definitely one of them. She considered it to be her warning to him. A reminder with that promised one more fight to come, but this time it would be to the death.

"So...You're gonna let me go, right? I help you, you help me?"

"Hmm," she pretended to think for a moment, but then pulled out her stake. "Nah, I don't think so." He dusted and she walked away, feeling just one step closer to getting what she wanted. There were no thoughts of any possible consequences, no fear of the unknown. She knew she was going to win; she was going to have the revenge that she longed to have, because her dreams had shown her the way.

* * *

– Boston, Present Day –

Faith's hand shot up in reflex. Her eyes were still closed as she laid on the bench, but her senses had felt the presence of another; had felt something falling towards her vulnerable chest. When her eyes shot open it was to see a stake wielding vampire hovering over her, the pointed end of the stake centimeters away from its target. She broke the arm, making him cry out in agony before she used the stake meant to kill her to end his undead life in a swift move to stand. Then she could see the other vampires in the room, all growling low in their throat, but she didn't bothering growling in return. She simply swept through the room, easily dodging any planned punches and kicks, and staked each one of them before heading out of the doors in the room.

She walked down the hall quickly, making a few turns and heading down a few emergency stairwells before finding the door she was looking for. The door opened as soon as she approached it. "A handful of vamps just attacked me on the top floor," she said walking in without glancing in Paul's direction. "You and the brat go make a sweep from that floor back to here, and then go tell security to keep an eye out."

"Elizabeth," Paul yelled.

The young vampire emerged, her hair slightly messy from her sleep. "What? Don't we ever get to sleep around here?" she groaned. She straightened herself up a bit and made her way over to the door, not paying much attention to Faith. "You're not even Mihaela's child, and yet here I am answering to your every beck and call."

"Well, if your own maker wouldn't have gotten rid of you then you wouldn't have had to answer to me at all. It's your own fault, deal with it and shut the fuck up," Paul said, annoyed by the younger vamp. He looked to Faith, who was still standing with her back to him. He had sensed that something was wrong, known that she was coming before he had opened the door, and even now he sensed something wasn't right. As her progeny he was connected to her, but at the moment he was unable to figure out what was going on with his maker. "Faith," he said quietly.

She turned to him. "Later. Go." She walked through the living area and headed down the long hallway filled with old paintings and antique lamps. Feeling a little nervous about seeing Mihaela, she walked at a normal pace. She knew the ancient vampire would sense her unease and confusion, but there was no way to avoid seeing her. It was the second time she had been attacked within twenty-four hours; something was up.

"Faith," Mihaela rose from sitting on her bed as Faith walked in, wearing a silk purple robe that opened in a V from her navel up. "What happened?" Years before, they had all agreed not to run to one another unless – through their connection – they felt that their lives were truly in danger. It wasn't so hard to feel the difference between a sudden fear, and fear of the true death.

Faith nodded, deciding to stay where she was instead of approaching Mihaela. "I was attacked by a group of vamps just before dawn-"

"Paul told me about that," Mihaela said, raising a brow a Faith's keeping a distance. They were never in a room for long before they were _at least_ sitting or standing near one another, especially not when they were alone. She looked the slayer-vampire over, seeing a stiffness in her stance, and noting her avoidance of direct eye contact. "Why are you here now?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I woke up to a group of vamps trying to kill me in the room we have on the top floor," Faith answered. She could sense the other woman's suspicion, not only through their bond but just because of the way she spoke and looked at her.

Mihaela frowned. "Why were you in that room to begin with?" She wanted to ask why Faith had been in the building at all. She really hadn't expected her to return so soon, especially not to stay in some other room in the building.

"I-I..." Faith sighed, looking down at the floor as Mihaela sped to stand directly in front of her. "I brought her here." She heard a low hiss from the woman before her as she slowly lifted her gaze. It had been a very long time since she had laid eyes on the ancient vampire's large fangs; since she had seen her eyes filled with anything other than love.

"You did what?" she asked, her voice thick and deep. She moved a hand to trail her fingers down Faith's throat, scratching at the skin.

Faith could feel the energy practically begging to burst from her maker's fingertips, could feel her building anger almost as if it were her own. If she hadn't been sure that the woman would never hurt her, she would have trembled under her touch. Any vampire, demon, slayer, or human – it didn't matter. Just one quick move and she could end your life. The last time Faith had seen Mihaela that angry, they had both almost been killed because of Faith not thinking about their safety.

"Faith..." she cupped her child's face. "How could you do something so foolish? Do you understand how much _more_ danger we're in now, or how upset Leonard is going to be when he hears about an unauthorized slayer being here? I'm staying here on an old favor." She paused, staring into Faith's brown eyes. "Where is she?"

"Gone," she answered, quickly. She wanted to sputter out a few excuses, maybe say that she seriously doubted that Buffy was suddenly going to bombard the place with her army of slayers, but who was to say she wouldn't? After the rush of the fight in the cemetery, and seeing what the slayer could do she had been curious. Though the vampire that had been behind her with the twig hadn't really been a threat, Buffy had obviously thought so and had immediately thrown a stake to 'save her'. That, along with Buffy's endurance and drive when all odds were against her, had somehow lead her to think that maybe it was okay to bring the slayer _there _to see just what she could do. "I wasn't thinking," she admitted.

Mihaela retracted her fangs. She swept some of Faith's waves away from her face. "No, but we'll deal with any possible consequences as they come."

A sigh of relief escaped her as her maker turned and walked away from her to sit down on her bed . It wasn't like she thought she'd be punished or anything, but she wasn't so fond of Mihaela being angry at her. She had basically just been told that it didn't matter; that yet another one of her possible dyer mistakes was being _swept under the rug. _But there was still something that bothered her. Something she felt could further hinder her decision making skills. "She said that she has dreams about me. Of me and her." Having avoiding looking the other woman's eyes as she spoke, she finally met them only to find them sympathetic.

Mihaela held her arms out to Faith, placing one around the younger woman's waist as she sat next to her and running the other one through Faith's hair after the slayer-vampire placed her head on her shoulder. Mihaela sighed. "Like you used to dream of her."

* * *

- Boston, 1998 –

_Faith got up from her bed, bypassing the dead brown skinned girl on her floor as if she weren't there at all. She walked through her bedroom door to find herself in a dark graveyard, a blonde girl standing with her back turned a few feet away. She was wearing tight jeans and a leather jacket, her hair pulled back in a tight bun, standing there gripping a stake and breathing heavily. It wasn't what Faith was used to seeing her in, but she didn't pay much attention to it. _

_"You're late," the blonde said, not turning around._

_"I got stuck in the snow," Faith explained. She thought the blonde would say more, but she didn't. Instead, she took off running, and Faith took off after her. They dodged gravestones and mausoleums until they were running through what seemed to be a forest, where Faith started to lose sight of the blonde. But just when she thought she lost her, she came to an opening and they were face to face. _

_When she had rose from her bed she had been in her pajamas, now she was wearing a long sleeved black shirt and a park of tight dark jeans – not her usual tank and leather attire, but it didn't matter- with a stake now in her own hand as well. The blonde looked her over and then started to circle her, examining her very closely. Faith felt like she was being judged; she stood strong, meeting the blonde's eyes each time she passed in front of her. After circling her a few times, the blonde suddenly grabbed her hand and yanked her forward. Faith stumbled a bit, feeling the release of her hand, and when she caught herself it was to see that her surrounding had changed. _

_Now, it was daylight. The mystery of her dreams was sitting at a picnic table with a redheaded girl and a teenage boy who was sitting on top of the table. The blonde was no longer wearing tight jeans with a leather jacket, but a dress, and there was no stake in her hand. _

_"Faith, come sit with us," the blonde said, waving for her to sit beside her. _

_She eyed the two other teens that sat at the table, feeling a little unsure, but when they smiled and waved her over too all her worries melted away. With a shrug, she walked over to the group and sat down. For a few moments she and the blonde just smiled and stared at one another. When Faith looked away, the two other teens were gone. _

_The blonde moved a strand of hair behind Faith's ear, leaning to whisper in her ear. "Vampire's can't go to picnics," she laughed. _

_Faith pulled back to speak, but instead found herself falling from her feet onto her back, dust flying into the air as she hit the cold floor beneath her. She coughed, making her chest burn, and sending sputters of blood through her parted lips. Her whole body ached, and felt too heavy. Peering down at herself, she could see that she was bleeding from multiple places; could feel it start to pool beneath her. She was cold and lightheaded, unsure of her surroundings as she tried to shift her eyes around the room, so she decided to give up on knowing and just stared up at the ceiling. _

_Seeming to come out of nowhere, a woman suddenly stood above her. Her thick black curls hanging as she stared down at Faith with hazel eyes. Suddenly, the woman was kneeling, pulling the slayer into her arms and staring deep into her eyes._

_Even though she knew it was a vampire holding her, and the feel of her cold skin made her shiver, Faith felt as if it was where she was supposed to be. In that moment, for some reason, she felt that after the fight she had just survived – though she was now dying, and she knew it – the next part of her life started with the woman staring into her eyes. When she saw the vampire's fangs come out, she closed her eyes, waiting for them to push through her flesh._

She woke up to damp sheets, and hard breaths, feeling quite a contrast between her dream state and her waking. Her dream self may have been all for being chowed down on a vamp, but she sure as hell wasn't feeling it. The thought made her sick to her stomach, and actually terrified her. But no matter what her dream may or may not have meant, there was no way she wasn't going to go through with her plans. She was back in Boston for one reason, and that was to kill Kakistos; to take revenge for what he did to her and her watcher.

Rising from bed, she checked the clock, happy to see that she hadn't slept that late into the night. She went cover to her bag in the corner, tossing it onto the bed to look through it. The dream she had showed her that she'd beat Kakistos. That when she was falling to the ground, barely alive, she was dying satisfied with whatever fight that had killed her, and there was only one fight she could think of that would give her that feeling. In terms of that part of the dream, she was okay, so for what she considered to be a special occasion and pre-celebration to her soon to be victory she decided to change up her style. Tonight, she'd be wearing boots as usual, a long sleeved black shirt, and a pair of tight dark jeans.

She grinned pulling the outfit out. "Let's do this."

For weeks she had had the same conclusion to every dream, it had been the one thing that had made her return to Boston so soon. Before that, she had settled on running. Everything that she had in Boston had become dispensable, and there were absolutely no thoughts of going back. She was going to head to California and find the blonde that had been in her dreams since a few months before she was called. They just hadn't stopped. It wasn't necessarily an every night thing, but they were frequent enough for her to notice that there was something different about them. When her watcher later told her that it seemed as if she were sharing dreams with the _other _living slayer, it had confirmed all of her suspicions. They had just always felt _so _real.

After putting a stake in her boot, grabbing a crossbow, and pocketing a Zippo, Faith walked over to the pair of leathers she had worn the previous night. Within one of the pockets was a wallet that she pulled out and opened, only looking at the pictures of a family of five for a brief moment before stuffing all the bills it had in her back pocket. Then she set out into the night.

It was pretty chilly, and the streets were busy so she made sure to go through side roads and to cut across as many cemeteries as possible to avoid having her crossbow questioned. Eventually she found herself at the apartment building she thought she wouldn't have to see for years, if not longer. Silently, she made her way up to the door of her childhood home, pulling the money out of her back pocket and placing it on the barely legible mat that once read, 'home sweet home.' After taking a deep breath, she knocked and ran to hide in some bushes more than a few feet away.

Moments later her mother slowly walked out wearing a thin nightgown, her dark hair hanging damp. First, she looked around for a moment, trying to see who had knocked on her door.

"Look down. Look down," Faith chanted, and finally the woman did. She watched as her mother picked up the money, not bothering to count it before calling her name into the darkness. It surprised Faith. It surprised her to hear her mother calling her name somewhat desperately, but she couldn't dwell on it. Seeing that the woman had gotten the money, she headed off to finish what she set out to do.

She did her best to focus on how pumped up she was; how her heart beat faster and faster as she got closer and closer to her enemy's hideout. Finally, she would be able to rid herself of the burden and regret, though she'd never feel completely guilt free. At least she'd know Kakistos would never be able to take another innocent life, and that was enough to satisfy her. That was enough for her to force herself to ignore what her dreams told her would be the end of her human life.

If there was one thing she could appreciate about the average vamp, it how easy they fessed up to save their own ass. Just like his lackey had told her, Kakistos was held up in his usual place – an old abandoned warehouse. There were two vampires guarding the place, one out front and one outback. Keeping a distance, Faith took them both out with her crossbow before circling the place to find a good entrance. One of the doors to the place was slightly cracked, giving her a peak inside. There were only four vampires inside with Kakistos, who was sitting in a chair feasting on a scrawny brunette, while the other ones watched hungrily.

From what she could see, the best way in was the back entrance because most of the vamps had their back to the door, so she ran over to it, took a deep breath, loaded her crossbow and pushed the door open, taking out one of the lackey's right away. Moving quickly, she loaded the crossbow again as Kakistos yelled for them to bring her to him, taking out another one before tossing the crossbow aside. The two remaining followers ran at her, throwing various kicks and punches, most of which she blocked and ducked beneath. When she was finally able to grab her stake from her boot, it was only to be kicked hard in the face, sending her flying into a wall. It crumbled from the force of her body slamming into it, pieces of it falling on top of her.

She groaned in pain, reaching for her stake, which was poking out from beneath the rubble. Just as she got it into her grasp, one of the vamps pulled her up by her shirt, a wide grin on his lips that faded as her stake was plunged into his still heart. Not giving her time to recover from being dropped to the ground, the remaining vampire hit her hard in the stomach and she doubled over.

"Bring her to me," Kakistos said again, watching in frustration.

The vampire grabbed her by the hair, pulling her to her feet. Seeing an opportunity, she kicked him, and when he released his grip on her hair she slammed his head into her knee. Next, she brought her fists down on his back so that he fell flat on his face, which she kicked when he tried to raise it off the floor.

She looked over to Kakistos, licking her split lip and then picking her stake up off the ground and staking his lackey. "How about I bring myself to you, and finish what I started."

"Finally, you stop running like a coward," he sneered.

"Talk all the shit you want," she said, walking over to him. "This is still going to end with you being a pile of dust beneath my sweet leather boots."

"Give me your best shot." He instantly blocked the flurry of fists she sent his way, catching the last one with his cloven fingers. "My turn," he said, then backhanding her hard across the face. She flew across the room, sliding on the floor before coming to a stop. He stalked over to her as she tried to stand, stumbling slightly. "I have dreamed of having my revenge, slayer. And now, I will have it."

Faith got up, and he slashed one of his cloven nails across her stomach, cutting through the fabric of her shirt easily as well as her flesh. She placed her hand over the wound, wincing as blood began to pour out of it. Her whole body ached from being hit and tossed around, but she stood her ground. That was, until she was hit hard across the back and fell to the ground. When she turned over, it was to see yet another lackey. Apparently, one of the vampires that had been sent out for dinner had returned and was wielding a baseball bat.

He lifted it above his head before hitting her in the legs with it, making her scream in pain. "Sorry I'm late, boos." He hit her again, but this time in the chest, and laughed as her eyes bugged when all the air left her lungs. He lifted the bat again.

"Leave her," Kakistos said, stopping his footman mid movement.

"Huh?" the vamp asked, looking over at his master with the bat hovering above the whimpering slayer.

Using what little strength she could muster, Faith grabbed the bat. She shattered its end on the floor, and staked the vamp just as he was reaching to take it back from her. Then, Kakistos reached down and picked her up by her throat, his claws pushing through the skin on the back of her neck. She drove the end of the baseball bat into his chest, a sense of relief instantly washing over her, but it was soon replaced by panic when he didn't dust.

He pulled the broken bat out of his chest, laughing as he tossed it aside, and then laughing harder when Faith began to pull at the hand around her throat. "This is it, slayer."

She punched him in the face, merely making his head turn from the impact, but that gave her enough time to reach in her pocket without it being noticed.

"Finally, I've-" He sniffed the air around him, frowning as his sense of smell came to life. "It smells like...like-"

Faith grinned, her teeth red with blood, "F-f..fi-"

Kakistos loosened his hold. "What, a final word before death? What is it?" he asked, putting an ear near her mouth.

"I said," she gasped, "...fire." The vampire dropped her as he was suddenly engulfed in flames, screaming. Somehow, she managed to get to her feet and pushed him, making him stumble back into a beam that had fallen when she had been kicked into the wall. Finally, the ancient vampire fell to a pile of dust. She limped over to the pile, a hand held firmly against her stomach, and spat on it.

It was finally over. Kakistos was dead, and she had avenged her watcher's death; had taken that sour memory of him ripping her apart, and placed it next to the image of him screaming as her burned before dusting. She looked around the room, and laughed a crazed triumphant laugh. Ignoring all the pain she felt – the cuts and bruises from being tossed around like a rag doll, broken ribs and fractured legs from being hit with a baseball bat, the claw marks on the back of her neck – she turned to leave the warehouse, but after taking one step she stopped. She coughed a hard cough and blood poured from her parted lips. The world began to spin and she fell back, Kakistos' dust flying into the air around her. Her breathing slowed as it became harder to pull the cold air into her lungs, and her vision began to tunnel.

She could barely hear the sound of their footsteps, but she wasn't at all surprised when a woman came to stand over her, peering down at her with bright hazel eyes. She was wearing a black dress that was obviously from a different time period, large at the bottom but snug tight at the top, and a silk scarf wrapped around her shoulders. Her smooth skin was paler than any skin Faith had ever seen, and her hair hung thickly around her face, shining even in the dim light of the warehouse.

Faith could hear someone else walking about the place too, but couldn't see them. She only knew whoever it was was male when he said that she had killed them all. A smile crept onto the lips of the woman above her as she kneeled down. Even in her weakened state, Faith could feel that the woman at her side was powerful. Ancient, as Kakistos had been.

"Go ahead and kill me, you bitch." Maybe it was out of fear that she spoke; maybe somewhere deep inside of her she thought calling the vampire a bitch would piss her off enough to make her to just that – kill her. Or maybe

she meant it as a final will of showing that she wasn't afraid at all. But she knew it didn't matter, whether she lived or died was solely up to the vampire kneeling at her side. The woman laughed, but continued to only stare at her as if she were mesmerized, and for a moment Faith caught herself staring back.

She thought of all the times she had dreamed of that exact moment, the moment death would approach her and decide her fate, and looking into those eyes she realized that she wasn't afraid of dying. There was no maliciousness in the woman's eyes, or the typical blood lust that usually filled a vampires' eyes while they stared at their prey, she was simply staring at her. Looking so deeply that Faith felt as if the woman was trying to catch a glimpse of her soul.

The woman pushed some of Faith's hair back, gently resting a hand on her head. "Do you have anything to live for?" she asked, her accent thick.

Her first thought was to not say anything, and then to say no, but out of nowhere she pictured her mother. She pictured her mother desperately calling her name, instead of counting the wad of cash in her hands that could have been used to buy any drug. So she answered the question, "Just a drug addict bitch of a mother."

The vampre moved her hand to the back of the slayer's neck, gently lifting her up to pull her closer and wrap her other arm safely around her waist. "I can give you everything you could ever want: loyalty, passion, forgiveness...immortality. You will be mine, and I will be yours forever."

All of her life - through the nights of being left alone while her mother went out searching for drugs or men, the nights where she cleaned up her mother's vomit, the days at school where she was treated like scum of the earth, and the days she spent hiding away mourning the one person who had gave a damn about her – that was all she had wanted. Someone to be there, to love her and treat her like she was important; their loyalty, their passion, and their forgiveness. She looked into the vampire's eyes and saw that they were full of sincerity, full of promises of a life she had only wished for, and she accepted her fate. Her new life as vampire.

* * *

- Miami, Florida, 2001 –

Mihaela sighed, sitting down on their small hotel bed. "We have to find some other way to get you the blood you need. It takes too much human blood for us to go by unnoticed, and there have been rumors of two female vampires feeding on other vampires and leaving them too weak to fend for themselves along the coast. That's us by the way, in case you've forgotten."

"I haven't forgotten anything," Faith said, as she got dressed.

"The slayer's been dead for almost five months now, and still no one's heard about the one that may have been called after you, or where she might be. I don't know what to do," the ancient vampire admitted. When she had turned Faith, she hadn't considered her coming back as a slayer and a vampire. They found that the young slayer-vampre couldn't simply feed from a few humans every night, and had instead opted to kill other vampires. However, word eventually began to spread that there were two vampires killing their own kind. The vampire world was full of whispers of stopping them; punishing them for their actions in slow painful ways before killing them.

Faith pulled on her boots. "I'm going out."

"Do not hunt," she said, practically jumping from her seat to move between her child and the door. "You can feed from me when you return. Tomorrow we leave for Boston, and I need you to have all of your strength, but I don't want anyone to know that we were ever here. We've killed enough in this state."

Faith gave her maker a quick kiss, and then left. It was a pretty warm night, which she found wasn't so unique in Miami. They'd only been there for a week, making their way down the east coast so she could feed and do some sightseeing, but mostly feed. For the first two and a half years of her vampire life, she and Mihaela had torn through the coast, living it up and killing vampire after vampire. Being so old, Mihaela didn't need to feed much, but she sacrificed her quiet life for Faith's blood lust. Which wasn't so surprising, because the woman did almost anything for her, including feeding her when they had to lay low. But it always took too much to fill Faith's appetite, and it wasn't because she was just hungry all the time – though that was true. It was because she literally needed the blood to function.

There had been times where Mihaela had to practically carry her around when she had been unable to feed; times where the ancient vampire had let her feed on her to the point of exhaustion, and they'd be stuck where they were for days as Mihaela recuperated. Faith was beginning to feel like a burden, and no amount of guarantees that it wasn't the case could make that feeling go away.

When they had first discovered that human blood wasn't enough for Faith, and it took many vampires to keep her going, Mihaela had suggested they find the slayer. But seeing that Faith's dreams of the slayer had never stopped, until the slayer had died, she just couldn't bring herself to agree with the idea, so they just kept hunting and hunting. Now they could no longer hunt, and the blonde slayer was dead. Which Faith still wasn't sure how she felt about. Since she had been turned, a lot of her dreams featuring the blonde consisted of violence, but now the blonde was dead and the fights would never become a reality as most of her dreams had.

She climbed up to the top of an apartment building, staring up at the full moon that hung big in the sky, listening to the distant sounds of werewolves howling into the night, letting the monster inside of them come out to play. They were creatures of the night just like she was, waiting in the shadows of the world. But times like these only made her think about her life before becoming a vampire; a life where even then, she was a creature of the night. She had always been one.

Sounds from below brought her out of her thoughts, and she moved to a ledge to see what was happening on the ground below. First, she spotted a young man. He had dark shaggy hair and was wearing a pink palm treed shirt with khaki shorts, hurriedly fumbling with his keys. It was the keys that Faith had heard, and she first thought to curse her extreme sense of hearing, but quickly dismissed that thought when she saw five other young men walking towards the shaggy haired man.

"Hey fagot, where you going? We weren't done talking yet," one of them called.

"Yeah, fagot," a few others shouted.

Faith scoffed. "Boys, will they ever understand that sex is sex?" she thought. She made herself comfortable on the ledge, interested in what was going to happen next, though she she was sure that she already knew.

"L-look, I'm not looking for any trouble. I just want to get home, and-"

"Yeah, well we don't really care." The one who spoke, who had also spoke the first time and seemed to be the leader of the approaching group, walked up and knocked the keys from the young man's fumbling hands. "What was it again...Paul, right?"

"I really didn't mean anything by it," Paul said, nervously. "I was just out trying to have a good time like everyone else, and I thought-"

"You thought what, that I'd want to suck your cock?" He pushed Paul, who stumbled until he fell.

"No! I-I uh, I just transferred here, and I-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was kicked in the face, his head hitting the ground hard. "P-please, I'm sorry."

The rest of the group hesitated before joining in, kicking and spitting on the boy as he screamed and pleaded for them to stop. Faith peered down at them, considering all the times that Mihaela had said it was best not to interfere with human lives, but even she couldn't picture the woman simply sitting by and letting this happen. Of course, that blow to the back of the head as it hit the concrete after the first blow had already guaranteed his death, so there was no real point in interfering, but something within her just wouldn't let it go.

For some reason, she thought of the dead slayer. About an opportunity taken away from her, and it wasn't her life as a slayer that she was thinking about, it was the opportunity to meet other the slayer. To possibly have another way of living her undead life. So, when she focused her attention back on what was going on down below, she now saw another opportunity.

"Hey," she shouted, and in the blink of an eye all of the tormentors were running away. Laughing at that, she jumped off of the ledge, landing steadily and walking over to the bleeding Paul. Luckily, they had laid off the face after the first blow, and instead kicked the shit out of his obviously ribs. She kneeled down. "You're looking pretty rough kid."

"Oh, but I...I feel...great." He tried to laugh, but groaned in pain instead.

Faith laughed at the boys quip. "I'm not really sure how this is supposed to work. Never done it before. You know you're dying, right?"

"Yes," he answered, his eyes swelling with new tears to shed.

"I'm a vampire, and before you try to come up with some smart ass response-" She showed her fangs, and then pulled them back. "Living only the night life isn't always so great, but I can promise you that it's better than the shit you're dealing with now. I can give you the revenge you thirst for, and I know you do." He nodded and she let her fangs reemerge, bending down and plunging them into his throat. She didn't have to take much of his blood since there already wasn't much of it left, then she bit her own wrist and placed it over his mouth. "Drink."

Once he finally faded away, Faith picked him up, feeling as if she was truly cradling her own creation. She quickly made her way to a treed area, digging a quick grave before stripping him of his clothes and burying him. That night she didn't head back to Mihaela, and she made sure to not hide away until daylight, knowing that her maker could not face the sun without quickly fading.

Nightfall came, and seeing that Mihaela didn't immediately appear, she figured that perhaps the ancient vampire thought she needed some space. So she set out, making her way through whatever clothing store that was still open and grabbing her usual attire but from the male section. Then she went to wait, and when his hand burst from beneath the dirt, she couldn't stop the grin that spread across her lips. Grabbing his hand, she yanked him from his grave, frowning at his creased brow. "We'll work on that." She reached into her back pocket, pulling out a piece of the tattered bloodied shirt he had wore the night before, lifting it to her nose and breathing in deep.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Giving you your revenge," she answered, handing him the shirt. After he mimicked her deep breathing, he smiled, and she smiled back. "Come on, we've got a few bastards to kill."

Paul's face relaxed, the creases fading. "So, what's your name?"

They trekked across the city, talking about their past lives. Hearing the torture that Paul had to go through during his high school years, which had ended just a year before, Faith found that had a lot in common the realm of the outcasts. It was no surprise to her that the boys at his school hadn't been so found of his cock sucking ways, just as they hadn't been so found of her trashy background. From her experience, it was always one thing or another. Your clothes, your hair, your likes and dislikes, even your parents. As they marched to their destination, both of their minds stayed stuck on the past. Of their torment and disparity, so when they arrived at the doorstep of a raging college party, they were more than ready for what they were about to do.

"Welcome to my party," a boy said, drunkenly. "Come in." He looked Faith over. "Especially you."

"Sorry." She winked, putting an arm around Paul's shoulders. "I'm already taken." They walked in, looking around at the twenty odd party goers. "Let's find our boys first, then we can have some fun." Splitting up, Faith sniffed the air in search of one of the assholes that had basically killed her progeny—her own creation; the creation of a slayer-vampire.

It wasn't hard to pick out the attackers, and before they knew it they were slaughtering the remaining party goers. Seeing the excitement in Paul's eyes; seeing the thrill and the rush behind them really got Faith going. She and Mihaela may have done a good amount of killing, but it was never like this. It was never so viciously done, and it especially wasn't a bunch of humans that they killed at once, after they found out that vampire blood did more for her. A part of her suddenly sprung forward, and she found herself ripping the humans to pieces, blood splattering everywhere. Soon the front and back door burst open, a few vampires smelling the blood and coming to join in, and seeing that the owner of the house was dead no invitation was necessary. What they didn't expect was Faith to start killing them too, and because his maker was doing it, Paul joined in as more vampires began to show up.

When it was all said and done, blood covered the walls and floors. Faith and Paul found each other, meeting in the living room to see that they too were covered in blood, breathing excitedly with vicious smiles. She ran over to him, and he pulled her closer till their lips met in a hungry kiss.

"I've never wanted to do this before," he said between kisses, as she began to undue his pants. "You know, have sex with a woman."

"I'm not just a woman, I'm your maker." They ripped each others' clothes off, becoming impatient with the sticking material. "You'll always want me," she said, pushing him onto the hardwood floors, making them slide slightly from all the blood.

Stuck in a haze, and consumed by lust, neither of them noticed someone approach them as they writhed on the floor. It wasn't until Faith was pulled off of Paul by her hair that the reality of the situation was brought to foot. She growled loudly, preparing to attack whoever it was that was turning her so that they were face to face, but upon seeing her maker's face, she cowered. She tried to fall to her knees, but Mihaela caught her, her hand still gripping Faith's hair as she growled and hissed, her large fangs bared.

Mihaela wrapped her arm around Faith, staring deep into her eyes. "You have disobeyed me."

Paul scrambled to his feet, "Let her go."

"Do not speak," Mihaela commanded, she waved a hand in his direction and he flew across the room. "This does not concern you, whoever you-" she stopped, lifting her head slightly to sniff the air.

Faith watched her maker, so shocked by the turn of things that she couldn't find her voice. The ancient vampire looked around them intently, silently listening. And that's when Faith felt it.

"They're coming," Mihaela whispered. She looked to Faith, her eyes desperately pleading. "Do you trust me?"

"Of course," Faith finally managed, her voice cracking. There was a force moving towards them, a group of vampires who felt just as ancient as the woman holding her in her arms, and Mihaela looked afraid. A woman she had never seen slightly startled or threatened by anything looked terrified. Then she bit her with great force, not holding back as Faith now realized she had when she had turned her.

Paul went to rise again, and Mihaela turned to him hissing. "Stay down, you fool." She went back to feeding from Faith, sucking as hard and fast as she could before wrenching back with a loud growl. Her chest heaved as the energy rushed through her, but it didn't excite her, nothing would at this point. She looked at her child. "They can never know what you are. Do not try to save me." With that she laid Faith on the ground, and stood in wait. It wasn't long before five other vampires were in the room, all growling and hissing with chains in their hands. One of them stepped forward, dangling the chain within his hands.

He had a head of gray hair, and wore all black, as did the rest of the group. "Michaela Jochem-Krasovec, it is time for you to meet the true death," he said. "For the slaughtering of hundreds of vampires, you must be punished."

"I accept my fate," she snarled.

"As you should," he nodded, then each one of them put their chains around her, one around her neck, each wrist, and each ankle.

Faith laid weak on the floor, watching in horror as her maker was brought to her knees. She wanted to get up. To fight them off with all the she had, but she couldn't. Mihaela had drained her to such a point that she could barely move, and all so a bunch of elders couldn't sense what she was. The one person who had given her all that she had wanted, and she had betrayed her. The last thing she saw before her eyes fluttered closed was Mihaela being dragged away.


	6. Faith pt 2Faith and All of Her Friends

Alrighty, anyone that didn't read chapter five because of the system meltdown...back up yo, or you're going to be confused. Much love, sorry for the wait, I was without my lovely Lula (laptop) and life is a bitch right now. My solution, throwing myself into my work. Thanks for the reviews!

P.S. I've gotta apologize for my screw up with Mihaela's name in the last chapter. Never done that before, but to make it clear...her name is not Michaela, that was a complete accident.

Chapter Six: Faith pt. 2/ Faith and All of Her Friends

– Boston, Present Day -

Mihaela continued to run her fingers through Faith's hair, the slayer-vampire's head resting on her shoulder. They had been sitting quietly for a good while, lost in their own thoughts. It wasn't until a buzzard sounded that Mihaela broke the silence. "Paul's notified security."

Faith slowly sat up. "Yeah." For a minute or so, the alarm continued to sound, ringing in both of their ears until finally it stopped. She looked down at the arm wrapped around her waste, and held back a whimper, thinking about the mistakes she had recently made. "You can't comfort me when _I'm _the one who fucked up," she said, getting to her feet with a loud sigh.

She watched her child walk away from her, watched as she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "Everyone makes mistakes, Faith," she said, softly. The conflict within the slayer-vampire seeped into her, her muscles tried to twist and coil under the strain she knew Faith was feeling, but she did her best to ignore it. Young vampires always had a problem keeping their emotions reeled in. "It's very rare that you do."

"But when I do," Faith said, turning to face her maker, "it's usually pretty bad. I mean, you're my maker_. _I should never do anything that could put you in danger. When it comes to you, I should never make mistakes like these. Once again I'm so wrapped up in my own thoughts, and my own world, that I forget what's important to me. _Who's _important." She looked down, feeling ashamed and stupid. Over the years, she thought she'd never feel this way again.

Mihaela stood up, approaching Faith at a normal pace, which was quite a contrast to her earlier enraged approach. She placed her hands on Faith's chest. "It's okay."

"It's not," Faith said, quietly. She closed her eyes as the hands on her chest moved upwards, one resting on her shoulder, while the other one moved to the back of her neck. A soft thumb caressed her check, and she found herself melting under the other woman's touch. Mihaela always liked to touch her that way, sending a sense of ease and calm through her. She knew that the ancient vampire was so far beyond her in all kinds of areas, and that it was quite easy for her to control her emotions, but it still amazed her when just a simple touch from Mihaela washed everything away.

Mihaela smiled, both seeing and feeling Faith relax. Though she was not happy about the way Faith had handled things over the past few days, she knew that Faith was being too hard on herself. She was digging up things that happened long ago, and being so old, Mihaela knew there was no point in wallowing in the past. When Faith finally opened her eyes, Mihaela placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Everything will be okay," she whispered.

Faith wrapped an arm around her maker's waist, licking her lips as she grazed her fingers over the other woman's bare skin. It was as if she had just noticed Mihaela's exposed skin, her robe opening in a V from her navel up. Now, all she could think about was just beyond its pointed end.

Mihaela practically laughed at the sudden change in the air, and in their connection. One second Faith's bursting at the seams, flooding her with feelings of shame, frustration, and confusion. The next, she's overwhelmed by sexual need. Faith's lips grazed her own, and she couldn't help but shiver. "This won't help," she pointed out.

"Considering all the fighting I've done in the last twenty-four hours," she kissed the woman fully, and then pulled back, flicking Mihaela's top lip with her tongue, "it would."

As much as she wanted to feel Faith's hands all over her, and to feel her fingers deep inside of her, she knew it wasn't the time. So when Faith moved to kiss her again, she moved her head back before their lips could touch. "Then ask the help for help."

"Sorry, but that Elizabeth kid is _so_ notmy type." She laughed, as Mihaela extracted herself from Faith's arm. "Too much bitching."

"Very true." She walked over to a dresser in the room. "Sit down while I change."

Faith sat down, watching as Mihaela went through a bit of clothes before letting her robe drop to the floor. Faith bit her bottom lip, as the other woman slipped on a pair of black lacy underwear. "You sure it won't help?" she asked.

"Positive." After putting on some random t-shirt she was sure was Faith's, she pulled her hair up into a sloppy bun and then sat down across from Faith, who was smiling at her with a curious look in her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing, really. It's just, seeing you in something that was made in this decade is always a little weird. Nice, but weird." In what would be considered to be normal clothes, Mihaela looked oddly childish compared to her usual mysterious, elegant look. It was very rare she'd let herself be seen looking the age she was when she was turned, and at the moment she looked very much like the modern twenty something year old. Faith appreciated being one of the few that ever got to see her that way.

"So, what do you want to do?" Mihaela asked, getting back to business. "I'll have Paul and Elizabeth go out later, see if they here anything about these vampire attacks, but what about the slayer situation? What about Buffy Summers?"

Faith thought for a moment. She thought about seeing Buffy that night at the club, and how she'd been so overwhelmed by the sight of her. It was like a part of her past life, a part of her that she was sure was dead and gone, had suddenly reappeared. She had been so shocked that she had to make sure, in her dreams Buffy was a blonde, and the slayer that had approached her definitely hadn't been. But as soon as she heard the name Buffy come from the slayer's lips, she knew. Next, she thought of their time in the interrogation room, and how nervous Buffy had been. Though some of it had been fear, just as she had seen at the club, the slayer's eyes had revealed the lust that she had tried so hard to hide. That however, wasn't so surprising to Faith. It wasn't like it was a rare occurrence for someone to look at her that way, but the look in Buffy's eyes when she had asked about her dreams – that was a whole different story.

"I need to know if I can trust her or not," Faith said. "Part of me is wondering if this is all some game she's playing so I'll trust her. She came into the bar alone, and even though her slayer lackeys were following us when we left, they were never close enough to save her. And in the interrogation room, she let me get a little friendly before Lucy stormed in."

"Always with the perfect timing, that girl," Mihaela quipped.

Faith sighed, frowning as she looked at the floor, deep in thought. "I guess, I need to know if the dreams she's talking about are real. And more importantly, if they are real, I need to know what exactly goes on in them."

"Have you thought about asking her?" Mihaela questioned, sensing that she knew where Faith was going with the need to know more about the slayer's dreams. She knew all too well just how those dreams had effected her child, but she also knew that just as Faith suspected, they were the key to everything.

"If this is all bullshit, and she's playing me, then she could just lie. And if I trust her when I shouldn't...I don't want to make the same mistakes I've made before. I can't be the one that gets you hurt. Not ever again."

"Okay." Mihaela nodded. "So, I guess that means-"

"No matter how much they hurt me when..." She trailed off, not wanting to rehash the past. "No matter how much they hurt me before, they're the only way I'll know the truth. At least when it comes to Buffy. So yeah, that means I need them back."

* * *

- Miami, 2001 –

_A hand reached from beneath the dirt, its fingers clawing at the still air before another hand made its way through __the earth. Suddenly, Faith was the one pulling herself from her grave, her hair matted with dirt. She looked around __desperately, half her body still confined, searching for those hazel eyes and dark curls, but there was no one. Pulling herself __up entirely, she laid in the cold dirt, feeling exhausted and alone. There was a deafening silence that hung in the air, making her feel as if the forest she lay in was just as dead as she was herself._

_"You shouldn't be here," a voice sounded._

_Faith's head jerked up, and she was shocked to see the blonde that had once consumed her dreams. "You're dead," she stated. Since the slayer had died, all dreams of her had ceased, and yet there she was. "You're alive."_

_"But you're not."_

_She got up onto her knees and there was a chain around her neck, slowly getting tighter and tighter. Then, it was as if the scope of which she saw things broadened, zooming out drastically until she found herself standing alone. Coughing, and gripping at her throat, she looked around in confusion until something small and glowing in flames was falling in front of her face. For a moment, she stared at it, trying to figure out what it was. Bark, a leaf, a bug maybe. Then more of it began to fall around her, and the smell of something struck her. A scream sounded from above, and finally she looked up into the sky._

_High above her someone twisted and turned as there body was consumed with fire, a chain wrapped around their neck. Faith watched in horror, covering her nose with her arm to try to mask the smell that now hung in the air._

_She found herself on her hands and knees again, naked and covered in blood. When she looked around, she recognized where she was as the house she had gone to with Paul, slaughtering all the party goers and arriving vampires. Before her mind could go on to what else happened, she felt an extreme pain on her back. A stinging that tore through her, followed quickly by another and another. It took her a moment to notice the cracking sound of a whip behind her, and when she turned to look she was once again shocked to see the blonde standing a few feet away from her, a whip in hand._

_Then it was raining heavily, and instead of seeing the bloodied walls of a house she saw gravestones and mausoleums. And again, the blonde, who was now approaching her as she sat on the ground. She was feeling pain all over, and when she looked down she cried out at the sight of an old wound open and bleeding. During her first fight with Kakistos, he had driven one of his thick claws into her. She remembered the doctors at a hospital talking to her about her chances of having children, but she hadn't been so concerned with that as she had been torn apart by the other consequences of her initial fight with the cloven handed vampire._

_"You're a monster," the blonde said, kneeling beside her. "The blood on your hands will never wash away. Your watcher's, your maker's," She laughed. Then her face went cold, and she grabbed Faith by the hair, pulling it forcefully. "You don't deserve to live."_

_"I know," Faith said, whimpering as the blonde tightened her grip even more. _

_"You killed her," the blonde said._

_"I know," Faith said, again. She closed her eyes and saw images of her maker being buried, barely alive. She was badly beaten and burned, one of her eyes sealed shut, as dirt was piled on top of her. When Faith opened her eyes, the blonde was still in front of her, her eyes full of pain._

_"What did we ever do to you?" the blonde asked, as the rain slowed._

_Faith's fangs shot out and she frowned at the uncontrollable emergence, and the fear that was now in the blonde's eyes. Suddenly she felt herself lurch forward, sinking her fangs into the slayer's neck, drinking hungrily until the body beneath her went limp. She pulled back quickly, panicking over what she had done, to see that it was not the blonde she was holding close to her, it was Mihaela._

"No," Faith yelled, into the still room. For a moment she didn't know where she was, but when she quickly remembered when she saw a picture of Paul, and who she assumed was his family, on the nightstand beside the bed. She laid back down, pulling the covers around her as she curled into the fetal position, bloodied tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

* * *

Paul took a sip of the whiskey in his glass, and frowned. He had never been much of a drinker, and now as a vampire with an extreme sense of taste, he figured that that was at least one thing in his life that wouldn't change. The bar he was in was fairly quiet, a few vampires getting together to talk about whatever kill they had made. Paul wasn't so interested in gossiping for once. He ran a hand through his newly cut hair, having finally gotten rid of his shaggy look. It had only gotten him mistaken as a straight man in the past anyways, somehow. But more importantly, he no longer looked like some goofy surfer kid.

After being turned, he had felt a sort of surge of assurance. Before he had always been a little shy when it came to his sexuality, having came from places in the south that weren't so pleasant, before his family decided to head to California. But even then, he had had his father to deal with. When he went to Florida for school, he had seen it as an opportunity to become the man he wanted to be. Of course, it wasn't long before that was all turned to shit, and he was being beat to death outside of his apartment. Then Faith turned him, took him to his killers so he could have his revenge, and then they had the wildest sex he had ever had. And, despite Faith being a woman, he had felt so empowered in that moment. It was as if all of his insecurities had melted away, and not even the way the night had ended could take that away from him.

Once the other vampires had taken the one that had drained Faith, he had picked her up and carried her back to his apartment, where he promptly kicked in the door seeing that he no longer knew where his keys were. He later found them outside his apartment, covered in what he knew to be his own blood from the night before. Considering how weak he knew his maker had to be, he had set out that night – after getting cleaned up – to find her someone to drink from. And despite it being his first hunt alone, he'd managed to snag a pretty big guy, figuring the bigger the guy the more blood there would be. Somehow, he managed to get the guy back to his apartment without any questions. Faith had been sleeping in his bed, having barely been conscious at all since he had brought her there, so he lifted her head to the dead man's neck where he had already been bitten. Without opening her eyes, Faith had immediately clamped down on the man's neck, feeding hungrily. When her eyes finally did flutter open however, she had instantly pushed him away, yelling for Paul to leave her alone. She tried to get to out of bed, but only collapsed, falling unconscious once again.

Night after night, he brought body after body for her to feed from, but eventually she had enough strength to immediately refuse. Still, she didn't have enough strength to do much else, which clued Paul in on the fact that his maker was no ordinary vampire. It only took one human to keep him going, and he didn't even have to drain them completely. Yet, there she was, having had enough blood to keep him going for weeks, still unable to do anything but lay in bed. He knew that part of her didn't want to leave the confines of his bedroom, but he could tell that even if she did try to leave, she wouldn't make it very far. He remembered her feeding from the vampires at the party, and had begun to bring her vampires to drink from, but even then she wouldn't feed from them, so he had to come up with a better solution. Because, even though he didn't know her well, he felt as if she had given him everything. And her turning him had obviously gotten her into a lot of trouble.

"Hi."

Paul looked over his shoulder to see a black haired vampire grinning at him, his hair gelled and combed over. He wore a nice dark blue buttoned up shirt, with a pair of black slacks, and nice black shoes. "Hey," Paul said, turning around on the bar stool. Sensing that the male vampire was much too strong for him to fight, Paul was happy that he was going at things differently that night.

"What's your name?" the man asked, putting a hand on the bar and leaning forward slightly.

"Paul," he answered, staring into the other vampire's bright blue eyes. "What's yours?"

The man grinned. "Does it matter?"

"Seeing that you asked me mine, and I gave you a straight answer, yeah." He wondered if the man thought he was some sort of hooker; just a guy sitting alone in order to pull someone in for a night's pay. Typically, when someone asked him his name, they'd tell him theirs in return. Then again, he sort of was out only for a night's pay, in a sense.

"I don't think it does," the man said, with a slight chuckle. "What's a young vampire like you doing here? Wouldn't you rather be enjoying the night, feeding off some young helpless victim?"

Paul smiled. "I'd rather be doing a lot of things," he conceded, looking the man over again. The other vampire stared down at him, his lips still curled into a sly grin. They held each others' gazes, not flinching or looking away for a split second. This was a thing, Paul had learned, like a silent motionless dance that decided how the night would end. From how things were going, he was sure he'd be getting more than what he needed for the night.

"Come on," the vampire said, casually nodding towards the bar entrance.

In his head, he did quite the happy dance as he got to his feet, reaching down beside the stool he had been sitting on to pick up his mail carrier style bag. He slipped the strap over his shoulder, and followed the taller vampire outside. Usually, if an older man hit on him, it was a man that was _way _older. The wrinkle around the eyes variety. But the vampire in front of him, who promptly turned and pushed him against the wall once they were outside, was far from _that _type of old. It made him wonder just how old he was, but there was no time to question any of that before the other man's lips were against his. Paul was sure that he was hearing church bells; he was kissing the most beautiful man he had ever seen, and not only that, but that same man was also undoing his pants.

As the man started kiss his neck, and then make his decent, Paul lifted the strap of his bag from his shoulders and sat the bag on the ground. "Actually..." he said, getting the other vampire's attention. The man looked up at him, his brow creased in question. "I'm going to need something from you. Not money," he said, quickly, seeing the man's brows raise high on his head.

"You can feed from me," the man said, figuring that maybe the young vampire wasn't so good at hunting just yet.

"Great." Paul sighed, relieved that he wouldn't have to go find someone else in order to get blood for his maker. The man moved to continue what he had initially started to do, and Paul stopped him again. "Wait."

He groaned in frustration. "What?"

Paul reached into his bag, pulling out a silver thermal bottle. "If you wouldn't mind – after we fuck – I'll just take a quick bite, fill this up a little, and then send you on your way. Cool?"

At first, he wasn't sure if Paul was serious, but seeing that he didn't burst into laughter or say that he was obviously just joking, he figured that the young vampire was very serious. "Uh...okay. Anything else?"

Letting the bottle drop from his hands, back into the bag, Paul shook his head. "Nope."

* * *

- Boston, Present Day –

Lucy covered her mouth, a loud yawn escaping her. She hugged herself a little tighter, annoyed by the chill of the night, and the lack of action she was getting. Somewhere out there she knew there was some demon or vampire begging to collide with her fist, but instead of being out on the hunt, she was standing around waiting for someone who tended to make her life more difficult that necessary. As if she didn't have a life of her own, they had called her up demanding that she give them a hand in sneaking onto headquarter grounds. Did they even bother to tell her why? No. And yet there she was, waiting in the cold, with no running or fighting to keep her warm. She wasn't meant to stand in such weather, and because it was laundry day – and because she only owned about two pairs – she had had to wear a skirt, instead of the jeans she had hoped to find clean when she finally returned to headquarters.

"That's what I get for not doing my own damn laundry at home," she muttered, in puffs of white smoke. When who she had been waiting for finally appeared before her, she rolled her eyes, agitated by their late arrival. "It's about damn time. How the fuck is it that you're always late when you move faster than anything on the fucking planet?"

Faith shrugged. "I get that question a lot."

"Which is just further proof that you're an asshole who thinks the whole universe revolves around-"

"So did you bring what I need, or what?" she questioned, not really caring what the slayer had to say.

Lucy reached inside her jacket pocket. "I was going to give you mine, like you asked, but that would have been too careless and stupid. Both of us know you do enough of that on your own." She handed the slayer-vampire a bracelet made of black and gray string, a small black charm dangling from it. "Plus, mine is yellow. Not your style."

"String bracelets aren't my style. Hell, bracelets aren't my style," she said, pushing her hand through it. "You sure it'll work?"

"Mine works, doesn't it?" she asked, looking at Faith as though she had asked the dumbest question in the world. "It'll neutralize your power, that way you won't set off any slayer senses. Now, instead of coming off as some overpowering hybrid, you'll just be a blimp on the slayer radar. Just another slayer wandering around the house. Of course, I wouldn't suggest that you actually do that, seeing that they all know what you look like thanks to Mimi's presentation earlier. She made quite a scene when she found out that Buffy had made it back to the mansion on her own, after they'd been searching for her all night, and a lot of the day too." She paused, squinting her eyes at Faith. "What exactly did you come here to do? Not that I'd care if you decided to just take them all out, considering the situation and all. But if you wanted them dead, I figured you'd start with their leader."

"I'm not here to kill anyone, not that it's any of your fucking business. Why don't you just worry about whatever it is that Mihaela has you doing here. Gotta admit, when you burst into that room-"

"When you were about to fuck Buffy? Don't tell me you were surprised." She smiled. "What, you and Mihaela aren't sharing secrets anymore?"

Faith growled. "You can fool yourself into thinking that what you have with her is anything like what her and I have." She got into the slayer's face, looking down at her in disgust. "But we all know it'll never happen. She will never love you the way that she loves me."

"And that's a shame, because while she's waiting for you to feel the same, you're too busy trying to get with someone who may be out to kill her," Lucy said, through grit teeth, as she stood her ground. "That's what you're here for isn't it? It's supposed to be some sort of mission, but I'm not buying it. If it were me handling this, Buffy would already be dead. No questions necessary. Any threat to Mihaela should automatically warrant a swift killing from you, her prized fucking possession."

"Watch it, kid. She'd forgive me if I killed you," Faith warned.

"Too bad you're too much of a lapdog to actually do it," Lucy said, in return. After glaring at each other for a few seconds, she huffed. "Let's just get this over with."

Without warning, Faith picked the slayer up, speeding over to the near by academy. Knowing that the place was rather dead on the housing wing, they came to a halt at a back door where Lucy quickly unlocked the door, and invited Faith in.

"Paul and Elizabeth are a mile or so up the road. You need to go talk to them about a vampire attack at the hotel earlier. Then come back here and continue to do whatever it is that you do."

Before Lucy could even respond, Faith vanished from her sight.

* * *

- Miami, 2001 –

Paul kicked the door shut behind him, not at all surprised to find his apartment just as he had left it – spotless. Since he had been made vampire, he had gotten heavier drapes in order to protect his sensitive skin, so the place was pretty dark, but being a creature of the night he made it to his room without a hitch. Inside, Faith still laid on his bed, her eyes drifting open as he moved to kneel beside her, pulling out the canister full of blood.

"I thought maybe you'd drink it this way," he said, holding out to her. "A vampire I met at a bar let me fill this up after we had sex. Walked away without a scratch on him...mostly." He laughed. Faith sat up slowly, her hair clinging to her forehead and face. Paul sniffed the air around them. "You should shower some time today. All the sweaty nightmares have put you a little on the ripe side of things."

"Sure," Faith said, barely above a whisper. Both of them knew she didn't have the energy to stand up, let alone take a shower, and she sure as hell wasn't about to ask him to help her with that too. He already did enough. "How was the sex?" she asked, taking the canister and raising it in a silent 'cheers'. She opened its top, as Paul began to talk about his night with a dreamy smile, but as soon as her nose caught whiff of the blood in the container, she dropped it.

Paul barely managed to catch it. "What the hell?" he questioned. "Look, I don't know what exactly is going on with you right now, since you refuse to tell me anything, but there's no excuse in the world that will convince me that you can't even drink blood from some thermal bottle. Just drink it," he demanded, sternly, giving her a pointed look as he held it out to her again.

Her hand shaking slightly, she took the bottle from him again, moving it to her lips as he stared in wait. The liquid automatically sent a wave of warmth through her, a tingling moving up her spine. "What was this guy's name?" she asked, knowing all too well who's blood she was consuming.

"Don't know, he wouldn't tell me." Hearing a knock at the front door, both of them looked down the hall in suspicion.

Faith may have been too weak to know who was at the door, but she had a feeling she knew. After downing the remainder of the blood, as Paul cautiously got to his feet, she laid back down, pulling the covers over her head. She wasn't ready to face him.

"I'll be back, stay in here," Paul said, closing his bedroom door. He could feel who was just outside his front door, and he prepared himself to handle whatever was about to happen. His hopes of not getting into a fight that night were quickly fading, if he was going to have to fight, he planned to win. No matter how much the odds were against him. He opened the door, not at all surprised to see the man from the bar. "What do you want?"

"Come come, do let me in. We are family after all," the man said, not bothering to wait for an invitation. "Where is she?" he asked, looking around the room.

"Who?" Paul asked, clinching his fists as his fangs descended. "I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

"No, I haven't," the man assured him. "My name is Jason, I am another child of Mihaela Jochem-Krasovec."

Paul frowned. "And?"

Jason stared at him for a moment. "Are you serious? Has Faith told you nothing? What kind of a maker..." He stopped short, putting his hands deep inside his pocket. "Faith's maker, is my maker."

"So...you're like, my uncle?"

"No. Look, I don't have time for this. Faith and I have somewhere we need to be, I need someone strong to come with me, so she needs to get her ass in here right now," he said, loudly. "Where is she?"

"She's not exactly at her best right now," Paul admitted.

Jason let a few dots connect in his head, groaning when everything clicked. "The blood, it was for her. And all of those guys you've been dragging here, they were for her too."

"Stalker much," Paul muttered. "She won't feed."

"It figures that I'd be the one to have to get things done. Fine then," he walked over to the door. "You, come with me."

At first, he hesitated, but figuring it would be best to handle things elsewhere – if things did get a little violent – he followed the man out, locking the door behind them. He wasn't sure if this 'Jason' guy was lying or not, what his intentions were, or where they were going, but he did know that if they were leaving to go somewhere the older vampire could kill him, then at least Faith would have some time to try to escape. Seeing that he himself felt when Faith was slowly fading the night he rose again, he was sure she would feel if he was in danger. It serve as a warning to her.

"Where are we going?" Paul asked.

"Just follow me," Jason said, taking off running. "And keep up."

Paul took off, keeping up with the other man, though trailing behind him. They ran out of the city, and just kept going and going until they made it to a treed area, where Jason finally slowed. Paul took a moment to compose himself, even as a vampire, that run was pretty tiring. "What are we doing out here?"

"Shh," Jason said, gesturing for Paul to follow him. They silently moved between the trees, walking for ten or fifteen so minutes before Jason stopped and crouched behind one of them. He pulled Paul down beside him. "You see those vampires a few yards off?"

Paul looked around. "No, not really."

"Focus," Jason said, continuing to stare off into the distance.

He took a moment to squint his eyes, trying hard to see what the other vampire was seeing. When suddenly his vision tunneled after catching some movement in the distance, he gasped in surprise. "Cool," he whispered, watching as two vampires tossed a body into a recently dug hole. "What are they doing?"

"They're burying my maker."

"Oh," Paul said, his eyes going wide, causing him to lose sight of the distant vampires. He focused again. "Why?"

"Because _she _decided to indulge your maker's blood lust and slaughter hundreds of vampires. Now the vampire world wants its revenge. They've tortured her for days, first draining her as much as possible to make sure she'd have no way of escaping. Then they went through different weapons of torture, branding her, beating her, whipping her with whips of various size, setting her on fire. Now, they're burying her while she's hanging on by a thread. They'll leave her here to die a slow death, or be eaten by whatever animal that decides to dig her up." He sighed. "If Faith wouldn't have been so consumed by her guilt, and just took the time to feed, she would have felt that Mihaela was alive. She's barely there, but I can feel her all over."

"What are we going to do?"

"We're going to go to a little town near here, it's full of hicks that no one will miss. We'll need to kill three people, bring them back here, and dig her up. Three hours till sunrise, we have to move quick. You think you can help me, since Faith isn't here?"

Paul nodded. "Let's do it."

* * *

_"Did you know that I have these dreams, too?" the blonde asked, sitting at the end of Faith's bed, her knuckles bloody. "Night after night since I've been back, you've come to me, and I've done this to you."_

_Faith laid facing the blonde, curled up, and badly beaten. "I can't make it stop."_

_"Please." The blonde stood up, walking over to a shovel in the room. The once carpeted floors turned to dirt, and she began to dig. "Then, I'll bury you."_

_"I'm already buried. I can't even breath anymore."_

_"You're a vampire," the blonde snapped. The hole was suddenly dug, and she walked over to Faith, sweeping her up in her arms and dropping her into it, not even attempting to be gentle. _

_When Faith's body hit the ground, she coughed hard, and ash came from her parted lips. But instead of finding herself being buried by the dirt that the blonde was putting back into the fresh grave, she was now standing beside the blonde, and someone else was in the grave, badly burned and barely alive._

_The one in the grave reached up towards Faith. "My child."_

_"Mihaela?" Faith whimpered, falling to her knees. "I'm sorry," she said, as the blonde continued to fill the hole. "I'm so sorry."_

_"All you have to do is make it all stop," the blonde said. "We need you to."_

_Faith turned to the blonde. "But-"_

_"I need you to."_

_Getting up, Faith took the shovel from the blonde, and pushed her in. She finished, filling in the hole and fell to the ground, hugging herself tightly. _

_

* * *

_Paul climbed out of the hole, "Do you want me to toss you one of the bodies?" he asked, watching as Jason pulled the fading vampire into his arms. She hadn't really healed after they'd set her own fire, so her skin was dark and flaking, and the only way they knew she was alive was because she was shaking, as if she were cold instead of burning up.

"No," Jason answered, pulling back one of his long sleeves. "The humans are for me, after I feed her. My blood will heal her much faster, because I am her child, and because I'm older." He bit into his wrist, and held it to his maker's mouth. "Hopefully, they didn't remove her fangs. They take a little too long to grow back."

He shook some of the dirt out of his hair, and watched as Jason tried to get blood into Mihaela's mouth. It took a moment, but eventually her lips parted, and the blood began to drop into her mouth. "This is going to take a while if-" the woman's hands moved to Jason's arm, holding it in place as she managed to move her mouth to his skin and suck. "Or not."

They sat quietly as she drank, Jason obviously becoming weaker as time went on. Mihaela's dark, flaking skin began to heal, revealing her pale skin. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, first blood shot, but then clearing to white. She looked up at her child, and her lips curled.

"I'm here," Jason said, his voice full of love. "I've got you."

Her eyes next wondered to Paul, who sat with his feet dangling, staring down at them. She frowned at his presence, as he waved to her, and though she didn't realize it before, as Jason's blood spread through her she felt that Paul too was of her. Of Faith.

"Faith," she said, pulling back from Jason's wrist.

Jason rolled his eyes. "She's fine. A coward, but fine."

She moved to sit up. "Take me to her."

Once Jason was done feeding, and was mostly back to his usual self, he picked Mihaela up, and they started on their way, moving quickly to miss the sun. Just as they made it into Paul's apartment, the sun crept over the horizon, and they all sighed in relief, having been unsure they'd make it. Along the way, Jason had suggested they stop somewhere for the day, but Mihaela had insisted on being taken to Faith.

Jason sat his maker down, holding her close as they walked through the apartment. "You should rest. You can renew your blood bond later."

"I'll rest once I see her," Mihaela said, refusing to be deterred by her child's worrying.

"She's in here, probably having yet another nightmare, that she'll refuse to talk about."

"Apparently, the slayer, Buffy Summers, is still alive," Mihaela said. "When they were torturing me, I heard them say she'd risen from the dead."

"As vampire?" Jason questioned.

"No," Mihaela walked into Paul's bedroom, and was immediately awarded with the sight of Faith sleeping in his bed. She smiled a sad smile, and made her way to the bed. "Oh..." she said, sitting down. "I thought I'd never see you again."

Faith's eyes fluttered open. "You're not...Are you really here?" she asked, thinking maybe it was just another tormenting nightmare she'd have to face.

"I am," Mihaela assured. She reached out, brushing hair from the slayer-vampire's face. Faith whimpered in response, and Mihaela felt as if she were melting. She leaned over, placing her lips on Faith's, as she moved the sheets on the bed back, so she could lay beside her.

Faith merely stared at her in wonder, as her maker laid down beside her. It wasn't until she felt the other woman's fingers graze the scar Kakistos had given her that she broke down into her arms, holding her tightly as she wept.

"I'm here," Mihaela said, rubbing Faith's back. She kissed the side of her face repeatedly, until their lips met again in a passionate kiss. Never in her life had she wanted something so badly, had she longed for anyone as she had for Faith while the others tortured her. Even in her grave, she dreamed only of the brunette. She pushed her onto her back, staring down at her for a moment, before moving to lay on top of her.

"Whoa," Paul said, a little taken back by their lack of shyness.

Mihaela looked over at the two men. "Leave us."

"Gladly," Jason said, pulling Paul by the arm. "It's nice to know they'll always have the strength to fuck each other," he said, as they walked out.

* * *

Faith was sitting on Buffy's bed when the slayer walked out of the bathroom, steam rolling out behind her. "I used to have dreams, a long time ago," she whispered, looking down at her the comforter that she was picking at.

"How did you get in here?" Buffy asked, keeping a safe distance from the intruder. "You need to leave before the alarms...Why aren't the alarms going off?"

"But when she came back to me, I asked her to find a way to get rid of them. Forever," she continued, ignoring the blonde's questions. "I just couldn't deal with them anymore. But, now that you're here, I need to know." She met the slayer's eyes. "She said that she can break the spell, but it'll take time. Until then, how about we go about these next five nights as planned. I told you I'd find you next time, didn't I?"


	7. A Summers Night Out

Alright, so first I get sick, then it's my birthday, then my internet stops working and isn't fixed for two weeks, next the holidays roll around, and finally writer's block decides to show its ugly face! This is take three of this chapter, let me tell you. Thanks for all the awesome reviews, I am so sorry for the wait. Last chapter someone let me in on the fact that you can't review on this site without answering random BTVS questions (unless you're a member), so if you're having an issue with that and would like to review, this story is also on . It's under the same name and title, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Again, sorry for the wait, I hope the length of the chapter makes up for it a little. Enjoy!

**p.s.** Sorry for any typos, I was literally up all night trying to get this finished, and I still have no beta. Bear with me.

Chapter Seven: A Summers Night Out

Buffy pulled the blouse over her head, running her hands over it a few times before looking at herself in the bathroom mirror. She had touched up the remaining bruises on her face that had yet to fully vanish, and her blouse was long-sleeved not so much to shield her from the cold night as much as it was to hide any bruises on her arms. Slayer healing, along with a drop of Faith's blood, and all, a lot of the damage done during her 'sparring' session with Faith was far from healed. Ever other step she took, a pain would shoot through her left leg, and it took everything for her not to stumble, or even limp. She was sure more than one of her ribs were cracked, and her fingers were stiff from the blows that she did land, which were few and far in between. But standing there, she looked as if nothing was wrong; she didn't wince when she flexed her fingers, she didn't hiss at the pain in her leg, she didn't keel over because of the pain in her ribs, and there were no bruises in sight. And that was exactly what she wanted.

On the other side of the door, Faith was somewhere in her Boston-stay room, waiting for her to come out and Buffy refused to show anything other than strength in the other woman's presence. There was nothing like a stiff beating to straighten out ones backbone, at least in this case. From the moment she had left the sparring session, though beaten and technically defeated, she had felt something rise within her. Like beneath all the pain and fatigue, something had been awakened. A new confidence, a new sense of pride. It had been such a long time since she had felt such a grand sense of power in being a slayer; in being chosen. What had always felt like such a weight, such a burden, now felt like something new all together. It was as if she had suddenly been reintroduced to everything she was, and this time around it wasn't forced upon her. It wasn't about duty, or obligation. It was a revelation. Faith had pushed and pushed, until something had just snapped, and she had found herself reaching into something she never knew was there.

So, even as her mind tried to dive head first into what Faith had told her earlier—about whatever spell her maker had found to stop her from dreaming—and as her body tried its best to force her into submission, she refused. She wasn't going to fall victim to her emotions, or her physical state. Instead, she would stay focused; stay in control, because from the moment she had laid eyes on Faith's picture, back in Scotland, she had been all action.

Buffy ran her fingers through her hair, missing her blonde locks, and then exited the bathroom. Faith was in the middle of examining a knife Buffy had placed beneath her pillow. "Been snooping much?" she asked, as Faith put the knife back where she found it.

Faith chuckled. "Depends on your definition of much." Looking the slayer over, she noted her long-sleeved blouse, and dark jeans. "Not saying you look bad or anything, but you can't wear that."

She folded her arms over her chest, huffing at the slayer-vampire's words. "Why not?" It was bad enough that Faith had literally just shown up, and immediately started giving orders for her to get ready, without telling her where they were going. Now she was going to tell her what to wear? "You're pretty much dressed the same, my shirt's just nicer."

"We need to give off a certain image where we're going, and what you're wearing isn't going to work. Right now, we look like we're in business together. Night stalkers on a mission." She approached the dresser in the room, pulling open a drawer. "You can keep your _nicer _shirt on, but how about something a little...sexier for the bottom half," she said, tossing a skirt in Buffy's direction.

"I guess that answers my snooping question," she mumbled, catching the skirt. After holding it out in front of herself, she looked to Faith with a questioning brow. "First off, it's like Antarctica outside. And, I'm pretty sure this skirt isn't mine." Sure, she had had her fair share of short black skirts, but none of them had been _tiny _black skirts. "I mind as well just go in my undies."

"Okay, so I may have brought it along with me, in case you didn't have the right wardrobe for-"

"There's nothing wrong with my wardrobe."

"Look." Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose. Defiance wasn't typically something she had to deal with when it came to humans, or slayers for that matter. "Trust me, where we're going, you don't want to come off as some strong willed slayer who's all about the mission. So just put the damn thing on already, so we can get this over with."

Remembering the state her legs were in, Buffy tossed the skirt onto the bed. "Well, if I put that on, instead of just looking like a tramp, I'll look like a tramp who gets a healthy dose of beatings from the vampire she's with, and there's no way I'm going out looking like that."

Frustrated, Faith started to question the slayer. "What the hell are you-?" But then she remembered their encounter earlier, or more like, she remembered the fact that not even a slayer heals as fast as she does. "How bad?"

"Better than it was earlier, but still pretty bad," she answered, honestly. Faith nodded and began to walk towards her, and despite her body begging for her to either go into a fighting stance, or cower, she stood her ground. "So, it's either this," she continued, "or-" She stopped short seeing Faith's fangs suddenly appear, and decided maybe a fighting stance wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Relax," Faith cooed, looking down into Buffy's eyes. "Just a little taste."

Buffy's eyes widened. New confidence and all, those words weren't ones that she wanted to hear. However, when Faith lifted her own wrist to her mouth, and bit into it, she relaxed a little bit, unconsciously sighing in relief. The relaxation was short lived when she realized who was supposed to do the tasting. "Uh, no."

"I really don't want to have to glamor you..." she warned. "Just a few swallows."

She cautiously eyed Faith, watching as the blood dripped from her wrist to the floor, a stain she would have to worry about later. This wasn't a situation she ever expected to be in, and she wasn't sure how to even approach it. Unfortunately, the look on Faith's face said that there was no time to think it over. There would be no stalling the inevitable. "Fine." She grabbed Faith's wrist, pulling it to her mouth. Her instinct was to close her eyes, but something told her that she'd want to see Faith's reaction to what was happening. What she was doing.

Of course, Faith found it rather exciting. No, she wasn't any less frustrated with the slayer, and her endless stalling throughout the night. At least, that's how she saw it. Still, there was no way she couldn't react to a slayer drinking from her; soft lips gently sucking her wrist, taking in gulps of her. Becoming a vampire had definitely mad life even more sexually entertaining, and satisfying for her, and she had learned to value it. Take advantage of it, even. Why not?

Buffy hadn't missed a moment, Faith's mouth slightly open, her fangs ever present. Her eyes so focused, lidded and dark. A quiet moan had even threatened to come from her, and maybe if Buffy hadn't been a slayer standing in a dead quiet room, she wouldn't have heard the beginnings of it. Faith wasn't exactly subtle. After one last swallow, she pulled back, dropped Faith's hand, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

If Faith hadn't been holding her own arm up, it would have dropped like deadweight, and that was the message Buffy really wanted to send; that she was unaffected, and indifferent. She grabbed the skirt off the bed. "I'll change outside. Walking out the house in this would draw _way _too much attention."

"We're going out the window," Faith said, walking towards it.

"No, you're going out the window. Last night, when you kidnapped me, there was a search party and they weren't too happy to get the call that I had come back on my own earlier today." In no way did she want to hear anything else out of Mimi Hampton's mouth. Sure, it wasn't fair to the other slayers that they were out all night looking for her, but it wasn't like she knew she was going to get knocked out and dragged off to the middle of the city. "We've got a system set up here, it's better if they know I'm leaving. A lot of the top slayers are out tonight, on patrol. My friends, however, are not. So, you—window," she said, pointing at it. "I will meet you outside."

"You've got ten minutes. No funny business, no slayers shadowing us. It's gotta be just you and me from this point on, got it?" she asked. It wasn't up for agreement, but she wanted to at least say it to be sure. That way, if the slayers were to end up tailing them, she wouldn't have to hear anything about protocol.

"Got it." She grabbed her jacket, and placed the skirt under it. "Ten minutes." With the sounds of her window quietly opening behind her, Buffy walked over to her door, slowly turning the knob. She wished she had paid more attention to whether her door squeaked or not, but it was hard to pay attention to anything when you a walking zombie. Not literally, of course.

Buffy poked her head out into the hallway, first looking to the left towards Willow and Kennedy's room, and then to the right where she spotted Dawn further down the hallway. She ducked back quickly, hoping that her sister hadn't caught sight of her. When she was sure she didn't hear Dawn approaching, and the younger woman wasn't calling her name as to say 'hello, I'm not blind,' she moved to look again. Down near the end of the hall, Dawn stood in front of Lucy's door seemingly mumbling to herself; raising a hand to knock, but then stopping short of making contact, letting her arm fall back to her side instead.

Curiously, the slayer continued to watch as her sister once again mumbled a few things under her breath, too quietly for Buffy to catch a single word. Dawn shook her head a few times, clenching her fists, and taking a deep breath before attempting to knock again, this time managing a few soft ones. As Dawn stood waiting for a reply, Buffy let her eyes drift over the few cuts and bruises on her sister's arms, back up to the bruise on her cheek. When she had come home earlier that day, someone had told her that Dawn and Lucy had gone out looking for her as well. This was the first time Buffy was able to actually see some of the damage for herself. She couldn't help but feel a little guilty, not that it was her fault that Faith had kidnapped her so she could kick her around for a few hours. Unlike her, Dawn didn't have any slayer healing, and the bruises were pretty hard to miss. After looking back at her now empty room one last time, she looked back into the hall, watching as Dawn walked further down it, to the room she was staying in. Lucy wasn't around, apparently.

Sure that the hallway was now empty, she left the room, making it down the hall, and down the stairs hoping to find Willow in the living area where she said she would be. She was having a meeting with the on-campus wiccan slayers, hoping that they could figure out how Faith knew to use Buffy's blood to break her spell in the interrogation room, especially since she herself didn't know it was possible. Tomorrow, they were going to see if it could be done again, and with more than just Buffy's blood.

Finding Willow just where she said she would be, Buffy knocked on a wall just outside the living area. The witch rose to her feet, telling the group she'd be back in a moment, and then guided Buffy into the kitchen. They were lucky enough to find it empty.

After mumbling a spell to make sure no one would hear them, she got straight down to business. "You're going out to meet her, I thought she said she'd find you." They had already discussed the events following Buffy going to the bar Faith worked at, and they had also discussed how they would proceed.

"She did. Just now, in my room. I've got ten minutes to meet her somewhere outside, on the grounds."

"I don't understand. How is she doing this, and how did I not sense that she was here? None of us felt a thing down here." She sighed. "First the interrogation room, now this."

"I know. She always seems to be two steps ahead of us," she pointed out.

Willow huffed. "More like a million steps. So, did she give you any details on where you're going, or what you'll be doing?" She figured she wasn't the only one hoping that it didn't involve more violence. For some reason, Buffy had refused to let her do a healing spell earlier.

"Nope. That would take her out of her comfort zone, which obviously involves keeping us completely in the dark. Hopefully I won't have to take another beating." For a moment, she considered telling Willow about feeding from Faith, and the fact that she felt more than amazing. That with every passing second she felt her strength, and senses peak. All her aches and pains were vanishing, and her heart was working overtime. She felt as if she were literally bursting at the seams. "Wherever we're going, I'll be required to wear this lovely skirt," she said, lifting her jacket from her arm to reveal the skirt beneath it.

"Ah." Willow said, eying the skirt. "Thank goodness for the invention of the heater. How are your wounds? Still a little achy?"

"A little." She cleared her throat. "I should get going, she doesn't exactly seem like the patient type."

"Okay. Just be careful, and remember-" Making sure that Buffy knew she was completely serious, she held the slayer's gaze, her face serious. "If things go to the bad with Faith, I'm stepping in." That was another thing they had discussed earlier. Sure, Faith had been able to break a few of her lower level spells, but there were some spells that couldn't be stopped, no matter what tricks you had up your sleeve. Buffy hadn't necessarily wanted to agree with her when they had talked earlier, but seeing that Faith was impossible to fight, track, or contain thus far, and she had the habit of manipulating people into certain situations, Willow didn't actually give her a choice. At some point, they had to draw the line.

Thinking of the many consequences that would follow if Willow were to step in, Buffy hoped like hell that Faith would keep her word. Five nights. "Let's hope that won't have to happen."

* * *

Lucy walked into headquarters, a smile on her face. "Hey Rachel," she called, spotting the girl a few feet away. "Do you know if the patrol is still going on at Hilltop tonight? I'm a little out of the loop, after last night." Not to her surprise at all, Mimi hadn't been so happy to find out about her little adventure with Dawn, who was not only a civilian, but also _their leader's_ younger sister. They had been so close to not getting caught when they got back, only a few feet away from making it up the back stairs without any of the girls in the training rooms noticing them, but after she had told Dawn that she could hear the girls talking about Buffy coming back on her own an hour or so before, Dawn had squealed excitedly—having felt so defeated when they had first arrived. There was no missing that squeal, especially not with super hearing.

"Taking the chief's kid sister out? Not such a good idea," she said, toweling her damp hair. She was a tall and lean, athletic type, confident in her skills as a slayer, but had yet to finish all the necessary training to go on patrol with the top girls of the house. Now that the top girls from a few of the other academies, including Kennedy, were around, she really didn't stand a chance in moving up any time soon. "They left for Hilltop a few hours ago, but the night is still young. With this whole slayer-vampire thing, and that attack in the cemetery, more and more patrols have been scheduled. There's a second team that's supposed to head to Crest in a few minutes. You going?"

"Mimi's put me on suspension." She shrugged, laughing slightly. "Before that they were telling me I work too hard, and too much. Now I'm irresponsible 'cause I didn't let Ms. Summers' sister run off by herself? Okay, sure." Truthfully, she hadn't thought so much about Dawn's safety when she suggested that she tag along, nor was she looking to actually help the brunette find her sister. It had all been very spur-of-the-moment.

Rachel scuffed. "There's always something."

"Tell me about it," she said, rolling her eyes. "I look forward to the days _I _get to decide things for myself. I'm no rookie, after all. No offense."

"None taken," she smiled.

"Good, thanks for the update." The moment her foot hit the first step, she dropped the smile, and hurried upstairs. Asking about the night's patrol turned out to be a good idea, and because there was a second group heading out in a few minutes, she now knew she needed to either move extremely fast, or stall. A necessary change in wardrobe meant stalling. No one could know she was leaving the house, now that Mimi was keeping a closer eye on her.

Buffy's arrival had put a damper on things. More specifically, after her first encounter with Faith. Before that, Lucy came and went as she pleased, taking care of all the necessary steps that needed to be taken to lead them to where they were. Now, she had to tread lightly to keep an image. An image she was getting tired of, with slayers she couldn't stand, and it wasn't just because they weren't so fond of vampires. She could understand that, it wasn't like she was in love with vampires as a whole, but the slayers in Boston had a tendency to be self-righteous, and overtly aggressive, just because of their rank.

Passing Buffy's room, Lucy turned the other slayer's doorknob quickly. "Broken," she noted. After no one came out to see who had obviously checked the doorknob, because an alert slayer doesn't miss something even that quiet, she knew that Faith and Buffy had already left. That made things easier, she didn't want to stress over what would happen if Faith was caught in the building while she was around. While all the other slayers would be working to contain the slayer-vampire, she would have to try to find her a way out.

Finally reaching her door, she pulled out her key, stopping short when she felt someone watching her. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed Dawn's door was barely cracked, and closing quietly. A part of her thought that it would probably be a good idea to check in with the brunette, but the other part of her was more concerned with her mission. Shrugging it off with a frown, she turned back to her door and let herself in. The room was messy, weapons spread out on the bed, and a few blueprints lining the floor. She picked the blueprints up, rolling them together and putting a rubber band around them, before stashing them away in a corner. Next, she pushed her weapons to one side of the bed, and then began to undress, tossing her clothes onto the now empty side of the bed.

During her meeting with Paul and Elizabeth, she had been told to go to a low key bar just outside Boston to check out some vamp that had been talking about the attacks downtown, while Faith checked out an underground vampire-human club. However, after hearing it was Faith who wanted her to go to the bar, and not Mihaela, Lucy had set her sights on the club Faith—and Buffy, she now assumed—were going to. The likeliness of the low key bar panning out was pretty slim, something she was sure Faith knew already, and it wasn't like the bar wasn't going to still be there the following night. With the chaos that had erupted with Buffy and Faith's meeting, she was wanting to check out exactly what was going on between the two of them. She wanted to know how Faith was playing it, and whether her most recent fuck ups, truly seemed worth it.

Knowing the scene of the underground club all too well, she grabbed a duffel bag from under her bed. She may not have brought as many pairs of jeans as she should have, but she had gone out of her way to shop for the proper clothes for vampire hangouts. There were rules, boundaries, and precautions. The club would have vampires of varying social classes, and she needed to play it safe; lay low. So, tonight, she was going to dress sexy, but classy. That way, the lower vamps would know that they didn't stand a chance and would, hopefully, leave her alone.

Digging through the duffel bag, she found a dark gray miniskirt. "This could work." Slipping it on, she went over to the small closet in the room, grabbing a box from the top shelf. "You were supposed to be for a more _satisfying _night out, but who knows...maybe I can have a little fun before sunrise." Within the box was a blue, sleeveless blouse that hung low between her breasts. She ran her fingers through her hair, and then shook it slightly. "And now for the boots." Reaching under the bed one last time, bending uncomfortably in small her skirt, she grabbed the heeled black boots she was looking for. Deciding it would be easier to just scrunch her skirt up a little, she pushed the small skirt up, and lifted her leg onto the bed, so she could easily zip the boots up. After putting on the second boot, she let her hand travel high up her thigh, running her fingers over two puncture wounds, grinning.

Her moment was disrupted by a knock on the door. "Who is it?" she asked, looking over at the door. From the other side of the door she heard a muffled, 'It's Dawn,' and rolled her eyes. "Hold on." Before their outing last night, Dawn hadn't even talked to her when they happened to pass each other in the hall, let alone knocked on her door.

While pushing her skirt down, and smoothing it out, she walked over to the blueprints in the corner and then put them in the corner of the room's small closet. The weapons on the bed, she wasn't so concerned with either. "Come in," she finally said, knowing she hadn't locked the door behind her. Not many people came to the floor she was on, which was why she loved it so much. Of course, once the legendary folks moved in, her hall had been taken over. Luckily, they were relatively quiet—not that she was around _that _often.

Dawn walked in slowly, looking around the room as she closed the door behind her. "Hey," she said with a small wave. If she were to have imagined what Lucy's room looked like before they had gone out the night before, she would have assumed the walls were covered in pictures of the blonde's family and friends, with her in the middle of them smiling broadly. However, after their outing, she wasn't surprised to find the walls bare, weapons on the bed, as well as a few on the dresser. It was obviously the room of a slayer who was all work.

"Hey," Lucy said, with a soft smile.

"Wow, you're dressed...different," she commented, wringing her hands. "Going on a mission?" The slayer had told her a few stories from her life back in Mississippi. Her line of work, as a specially trained slayer, involved lots of undercover work. She tracked down vampires with big reputations, or who were raising big red flags in the area of potential risks. It was what had lead her to Boston, and then inevitably Faith.

Lying seemed unnecessary, she had mentioned a few problems she had with the way things were ran in Boston, and how she often just went out on her own without telling anyone. Since Faith had been discovered, and Buffy had come running, her cover mission (tracking Elizabeth) had been put on hold, of course. "In a few minutes, yeah. How are the battle wounds?" she asked, touching her own cheek, on the same side that Dawn had a bruise.

"Still _very _apparent," she laughed. "Unlike yours." Lucy's outfit didn't exactly leave much to the imagination, though _technically _it didn't show much, either. "It's okay though, I don't mind."

Lucy smiled, walking over to the dresser in the room. "'Course not." She knew Dawn wanted the other slayers to know that she had gone out into _their _world, and not only that, but she had obviously fought hard. She had gone out and done what every slayer does easily, with her human strength, and made it back to fight another day. Now the whole academy would see that, along with her family. "Has anyone came and talked to you about last night?" she asked, looking at the knives on her dresser, trying to figure out which one would slide into her boot the easiest.

"Just Willow," Dawn answered, walking over to the bed. She ran her fingers over a few of the weapons, lingering over Lucy's obvious favorites.

Glancing over her shoulder, she watched as Dawn's fingers grazed over her specially crafted weapons. Just when they had decided to head back to the academy the night before, a group of demons had crossed their paths. Lucy's first thought, because Dawn was with her, was to get out of sight and wait until they passed, but that wasn't exactly an option anymore when one the demons turned and looked directly at them. Running would have been pretty pointless, and so they went for it. Dawn had gotten into a rough spot at some point, her weapon had been knocked from her hands, and so Lucy had tossed her one of her own. She knew it would be practically impossible for the average person to figure out how to work them, whether they'd had weapons training or not, but she hadn't been close enough to defend Dawn herself. As if the weapon had been made for her, Dawn had twirled the weapon just right, decapitating the demon before tossing the weapon back to Lucy before picking up her own.

She couldn't help but smile at the memory, at the strength of the labeled civilian. "Mimi gave me the longest lecture ever, and I'm on suspension."

Dawn laughed. "You seem to have taken her very seriously."

"Oh yeah. I'll be up here watching movies for days. You know, after I take care of just _one _little thing," she grinned.

"Right." She watched as Lucy picked up a small knife, lifting it to her face to examine it closely, before bending to put it in one of her boots. "So, if you don't mind me asking..."

"Oh, you can ask." Lucy smiled. "But I'm not so sure I should tell you." She walked to the side of the bed opposite Dawn and grabbed one of her favorite weapons, running its sleek black handle through her hands before slipping it into her other boot. One of the reasons she loved the weapons so much was because of how easy they were to carry around, the blade only out after a few swift motions.

"That only makes me all the more curious," Dawn confessed. "I see you aren't going empty handed."

"Never do." She paused. "There's a two weapon only policy where I'm going, neither of which can be used unless there's some kind of chaotic outbreak in which you _have_ to defend yourself."

"Sounds fun."

"Does it?"

"It does." They were both quiet for a moment, Lucy looking at her as she stood on the other side of the bed. "Now, I'm not trying to tag along..."

Hearing her own words from the night before, she couldn't help the smirk that played across her lips. "Oh, I think you're trying to do just that."

She shrugged, smiling. "Maybe I am. What do you say?"

'Absolutely not,' should have been her answer. It was the answer that sat in wait at the tip of her tongue, and yet she wasn't able to fully get it out. She knew what it felt like to be left out of what was going on around her. Her recent mission was the only time she had been able to actively participate in what needed to be done to protect Mihaela's, Faith's, and Paul's family. "I'd say it depends."

She stopped herself from jumping for joy. "On what?" she beamed.

"What you've got in your closet," Lucy smirked.

* * *

Entering the club, Buffy wasn't surprised to find it dimly lit, full of noise, and full of vampires. The music, she thought, was a little more her style compared the blaring techno of the RITS, some sort of soft rock that reminded her a little of her younger days, but raunchier. There were no flashing lights, which definitely would have made things easier the night she and the gang had gone out in search of the slayer-vampire, but this time it didn't matter, and not just because she wasn't going to be making her way through the crowd in search of someone.

It had taken a while, but she had finally adjusted to the new blood coursing through her veins. The heightened sense of smell, extreme hearing, muscles wound and ready to be used at any moment. Her heart had began to pound, and her skin tingled and burned at once, giving her the urge to roughly rub her hands over her own skin to release a sense of pressure that she couldn't quite place. It was as if she were truly about to burst. But whatever may have followed that destruction that the sudden eruption may have caused, she knew that her body would revel in it. She almost craved it; her own abolishing. But at the same time, everything within her rejected it.

She had been relieved when Faith had lead her off headquarters property, to a parked car that was hidden a little down the road. Well, not so much hidden, but it couldn't be seen on from academy grounds. In the car, she had clung to the leather seats, breathing heavily, her eyes rolling back.

"Don't fight it," Faith had said, looking over at the blonde as she dramatically shifted gears, making the car go faster and faster.

Buffy had never imagined the feeling of being ripped apart, especially not in a pleasurable sense, but it was all becoming too much, too fast. How Faith thought healing a few bruises was worth the disaster that followed, she didn't know, but a slayer who couldn't do anything other than be taken away to some pleasure filled sensory explosion was a useless slayer. She wanted to just let go, to not fight it as Faith was so kindly suggesting, looking at her with an intense look in her eyes—something Buffy caught in a moment where her eyes were under control, peeking over at Faith through slit eyes. The street lights sent blurs of orange tented colors throughout the car, and Buffy wasn't sure if hallucinations were beginning to further cloud her reality as well.

Faith had laughed. "You really don't know how to relax, do you?"

"Some would probably agree," she had replied through grit teeth.

"You've just gotta show them who's boss. The slayer in you is going on a rampage, while my blood is trying the more...seductive approach. You're getting lost in the crossfire, sitting back while they determine who's going to come out on top, when really you're the one in charge. Neither one of them can overpower you. They use you as a source, not the other way around."

There had been a lot of talking going on, and she hadn't been sure if she had really caught all of it, but as she followed Faith through the club she knew what little she had caught had been spot on, except for one little thing. Instead of joining the struggle within herself, and toppling over the two _technically _foreign intruders, it seemed as if they had climbed to equal ground. She wasn't sure if it had anything to do with the fact that not only was Faith's blood, the blood of a vampire but the blood of a slayer as well, but part of her just felt so relieved. Comforted even in her new state. A war had ended, and _she_ was the aftermath.

Still following Faith through the crowd, Buffy was surprised when the slayer-vampire extended a hand back to her, still pressing on, and definitely not looking back at her. Only hesitating for a moment, she reached out, taking her cold hand and relishing in the vibrations that went through her body. Like a low hum that tickled, making her hairs stand as their fingers intertwined. It was an uncontrollable wave, that slowly returned to the low hum it came from. As if her heightened senses weren't causing enough trouble, smells of sweat, cologne and perfume, alcohol, and a faint smell of cigarettes. Bits and pieces of conversations as she passed couple after couple, or suitor after suitor. What she did appreciate however was the fact that everyone was basically dressed the same as she was, not formal, but not too casual. There were the few, a handful of club goers who were either out right rebellious, dressing much more like the RITS patrons, or a handful of blasts from the pasts—obvious vampires.

"We're going to sit here," Faith turned to say, putting her hand on a tall chair at a table. After Buffy nodded, she let go of the slayers hand, looking over towards the bar in the opposite corner of the club. She figured they mind as well have something to sip on while they waited. Sitting with nothing to do with your hands was just weird, and awkward. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure. Whatever you like that isn't blood, please." Faith not so subtly tapped the table a few times, giving her a look that clearly told her to stay at the table. "You could just say, I'll be back with the drinks in a few minutes, and I'd stay here."

"Well, I'll be back in a few minutes then. Why don't you have a seat, Princess," she said, dramatically pulling out a chair and bowing slightly.

Buffy rolled her eyes, sitting in the opposite chair. She wanted to be able to look out at the crowd, get to know her surroundings a little bit, and Faith was trying to put her back to everyone. What slayer didn't try to identify all the exits of the building? Have a good look at what's going on in the club with the other club goers, vampires at that? Faith simply walked away.

There were a few humans, and it was obvious as she looked out at everyone, why Faith had suggested she dress accordingly. The lesser, skimpier dressed humans were obviously there for one thing alone, surrounded by a few vampires who were eying them like they had a whole list of ideas running through their head. Ideas of what they could do to them, and the woman, a few men too, didn't seem afraid at all. Buffy was proud to be part of the majority, and though Faith wasn't dressed anywhere above casual, and her own skirt was a little questionable, she was sure that she wasn't just a piece of meat in the crowd. A few vampires were eying here, but they didn't seem like they were on the verge of making any move. One of them even raised a glass in her direction, a vamp in a black buttoned up shirt, his dark hair a short buzz cut. He almost looked human, but the fangs gave him away. Not that she was looking.

Faith returned with the drinks, two shots of something dark, which wasn't really her type of drink but she didn't complain. "Cheers," Faith said, raising her glass after moving her chair to the side of the table, so she could look out as well. Their glasses clinked. "A bit of Jack," she said, tossing it back. She glanced over at Buffy as she downed hers, surprised not to see the slayer's features bunch together in a look of disgust, it was if it were water. "Past experiences?" she chuckled.

"Not really," she answered, turning the glass on the table with the tip of her fingers. Faith simply held the glass in her hand on the table, and Buffy wondered just how delicate the other woman had to be. "You?"

"A few." Faith grinned. "How do you feel?" Being a slayer-vampire was something new very well, she could tell you all about what it felt like to have so much power that you could never possibly find its limit; never uncover the complete mystery of what lived inside of her. But she didn't know a thing about what it felt like to be alive with vampire blood coursing through her, crossing paths with the slayer within. If anything, the slayer within her was an outcast. She was dead, that's where a vampire came from—death. A slayer, though a demon in actual form, was very much alive. It got your heart racing, blood bumping with a fierce drive. For her, it was just that extra boost of strength, with the occasional itch to kill her own kind. But really, killing came with being a vampire, supposedly. Her insides were all mixed up.

"I don't know. Amazing. Beyond alive," Buffy answered, with a light smile. She turned her glass on the table, barely touching its rim with the tip of her fingers. "I'm convinced that any moment now, this glass is just going to...shatter."

Faith laughed. "The whole, I-could-do-anything cliché."

"For a lack of better wording, sure. Like anything I touch will crumble beneath me; Like I could do anything," she finally stated, laughing. Faith was nodding beside her, as if to say that she knew she was right, but that wasn't very surprising. It was Faith's blood that was running through her veins after all, and she could feel that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Her body tingled, that low hum ever present, a feeling of being pulled towards the other woman constantly tempting her.

"You're giving off mad vibes right now." The slayer laughed, whether it was because of what she had said, or the salacious glare she knew she herself was wearing, she didn't know, but she found it all the more entertaining. "You don't get it. I feel, what you're feeling. Don't be embarrassed," she added, noting the realization in Buffy's expression. "I don't want to accidentally end up blushing because you can't control your half of our bond. Plus, at this point, I figure you'd pretty much screw the first one to approach."

"I'm picking up _your_ habits now?" Buffy asked, wishing she had another drink. One to sip on, perhaps.

"You don't know what my habits are," Faith stated with a light smile. "But you're not far from the truth. I'm a lot to handle. Not many can keep up."

"Go figure," the slayer deadpanned.

"Go figure." She stood up, and reached for Buffy's shot glass, which the slayer handed to her gratefully. "Want another drink?"

"Something more drink, and less shot." Watching as Faith started towards the bar, she let her eyes wander just a bit; curves and long legs moving with an attitude that was unmistakable. This was a woman that _knew _she couldn't be stopped. It was no wonder why she herself suddenly felt so invincible. Not that she felt like such a rag-doll before.

Looking around again, a woman over her left shoulder caught her eye. Sitting at a low booth in the corner of the room, the dark haired woman sat on the outer part of the booth her, the group she was with carrying on as she looked ovar at at Buffy, taking sips from the martini glass between her slim fingers. One of her long legs was easily seen outside the booth, shifting slowly as she stood, her black skirt starting high up her thighs, topped with a large black belt, and a white sleeveless blouse. Her tall black heels accented her toned legs, moving seductively with the sway of her hips.

Buffy looked away, thinking maybe if she were able to tear her eyes away, the woman would simply go back to her booth, or pass her on by on the way to somewhere other than where she was sitting. Checking out women wasn't typically her thing, outside of Faith who to her was beyond the male-female norm, but the blood in her system had her more than itching for a bit of skin to skin contact.

The woman sat her martini glass on the table, placing her other hand on the back of Buffy's chair before putting her now free hand on Buffy's exposed thigh. "Did you come here with that vampire?'" she asked, with an accent that reminded her of the slayer who had a habit of tracking Faith down, minus the time Faith had kidnapped her. She found it ironic that the night she volunteers to help Dawn find the slayer-vampire, and inevitably her, Lucy seemed to have lost all sense of where Faith could possibly have been. Perhaps, a thank you was in order.

Feeling warm and light headed, she stared up into dark blue eyes, unsure of what to say. The hand on her thigh wasn't cold like she was expecting it to be, it was warm and soft, thumb caressing the inside of her thigh. She wanted to turn and face her, reach up and push back her thick hair to kiss her soft neck as the hand between her thigh would slide upwards. But that would just be outrageous.

"We arrived at the same time, yes," she answered, stopping the hand on her thigh from moving up any higher, with her own. The wave of electricity that swept through her when their hands touched made her shiver, she found herself slowly sweeping her hand up the woman's arm. "Maybe you should step back," she said, still fighting the urge to turn in her chair, desperately trying to keep her mind from wondering just what it would feel like to be with a woman. Especially the woman who wasn't so discreetly squeezing her thigh a bit tighter.

The woman moved in closer. "Do you want me to? I know a place not too far from here..."

Faith walked up to the table, setting the drinks down on the table. Buffy looked over at her, her cheeks pink, but Faith had seen the slayer's expression, had felt that building desire as she stood at the bar waiting for the their drinks. The woman only glanced over at Faith, grinning before turning her attention back to Buffy. She obviously wasn't expecting Faith to suddenly be standing right behind her, practically putting her front against her back, fangs out and bared next to her ear.

Faith put her hand on the woman's arm, looking down at the two hands on Buffy's thigh, one being the slayers and one not. "Back off, mutt. This isn't your scene."

The woman continued to look down into Buffy's eyes. The smile on her lips told Buffy that she wasn't at all threatened by Faith's closeness, or the fangs that were dangerously close to her neck. Keeping eye contact with the slayer, she growled and then barked, making Buffy jump. "You're right," she smiled. "It's not." Turning abruptly, she met eyes with Faith, her cocky smile still on display. "Move out of my way, vampire."

"You're lucky you have no clue who you're dealing with here," Faith said, with a smile of her own.

The woman lifted her martini glass in a silent toast, taking a sip of it before walking away. Buffy watched, noting the edges of a small tattoo that was partially visible on the woman's shoulder. It looked like a partial paw print. Her attention was brought back to the table when Faith slid a glass in front of her; yet another one with a blue umbrella. She watched the slayer-vampire sit down, a tall glass full of a dark red liquid in front of her. Buffy obviously wasn't the only one who wanted something a little more on the drink side of things.

"Like I said, the first one to approach." Faith scoffed.

"I blame you," Buffy said, taking a sip of her drink. It was something orange, and fruity, and she liked it. "You force me to feed from you and then you leave me at the table by myself, in a room fool of strangely attractive—God only knows what. I could have handled it myself though, just to let you know."

Faith's brows rose. "According to what I felt over at the bar, I'd say not. Her hand was about two centimeters away from—" She stopped, and at the same time the whole club quieted. "Do you feel that?" she whispered.

All the muscles in her body suddenly tensing in a quick spasm was definitely something she felt. She simply nodded in response, figuring Faith would go on, and there would be no need for her to actually ask questions. With the heaviness that flooded the room, talking seemed like a chore. It made Buffy realize that Faith's usual aura of strength had been absent all night. It was no wonder why, the woman she now assumed was either a werewolf or an evolved hellhound who knew how to shift, was so quick to stand her ground when Faith had returned to the table. Why she had even approached Buffy in the first place.

"Showtime," Faith smiled broadly. She pulled a small knife from her boot, and pulled back her sleeve, as the club began to regain its liveliness.

Buffy frowned. "Is that a string bracelet?" she asked, seeing the one of Faith's risk. "My sister used to make those all the time when she was little. They never matched my outfit," she shrugged.

Faith cut the bracelet off, her eyes closing as a sense of release swept through her. A few heads turned in her direction, but she didn't care. Being just an ordinary vampire, the bracelet adjusting to the majority in the room, wouldn't help her at all from that point on."Mmm." It was a nifty trick, those bracelets, but the contained feeling that came with them had made her feel somewhat diseased. Drained of something that was replaced with a false replica of itself. "Tell me, how do you feel about meeting your first _true_ vampire elder?" She stood up, chugging the rest of blood. "Dinner," she said, before holding out a hand for Buffy to take.

After downing the rest of her drink as well, she stood up, taking Faith's hand. "Desert." This time when their hands touched, the low hum grew so intense she was sure her brain was vibrating in her skull. How exactly the bracelet the slayer-vampire had worn to the club worked was a mystery, but there was no question that it had been the reason Faith hadn't given off her usual vibe of superiority, beyond her walk and talk.

They squeezed through the crowd, getting the occasion smile and growl on the way, stopping when they made it to the far wall with a slim staircase leading to the small upstairs area that was only above the bar area, unlike other clubs Buffy had seen with entire second stories. It was obviously reserved for certain guests. When they were stopped at the top of the stairs by a large overbearing vampire, she figured they weren't on the 'certain guests' list. That wasn't so surprising, she didn't even know where they were.

"Tell him I just want to have a quick chat," Faith said, innocently.

"Sorry, I can't do that. The place is reserved for the night," the man said, crossing his arms.

Faith nodded, and pretended to start to descend the stairs, catching the man off guard when she turned and slammed her fist into his face. He flew back, knocking over a few vampires that were further into to the area, giving Faith the perfect opportunity to storm into the place, pulling Buffy along with her. It was the sudden appearance of a familiar vampire that stopped her in her tracks, him suddenly appearing in front of her, his bright yellow eyes full of a crazed intensity. It was the same spiky haired vampire that had swept through her apartment the night Mihaela had arrived back in town.

He smelled the air around her. "We have visitors," he announced.

Buffy had no clue what was going on, something that she was sure came with being in Faith's presence. She looked past Faith and the male vampire, there was a robed figure sitting in a black chair, his arms on the arms of the suede comfortable looking chair. Next to him a man with gelled and parted red hair stood with his hand on the robed man's shoulder, wearing a white button up with brown slacks and suspenders, along with a brown tie. He was looking directly at them, a look of curiosity forming.

"I'll handle this," she heard someone say.

When the redhead man headed towards an exit door, Buffy figured it was the robed vampire. She also figured that the robed vampire wasn't who they had come up to see, as soon as the redhead man was gone, the feeling she associated with being in the presence of an elder lessened, and then vanished all together.

"Please, you've already overstepped, mind as well have a seat." The robe maned said, gesturing towards the two seats opposite of him, in front of the railing of the upstairs area.

"Sit down," the spiky haired vampire said, choosing not to placate the fact that it wasn't so much of an invitation as it an order. He followed them over to the two side by side chairs, they were low and cushioned like the one his boss was sitting in. "I wouldn't try anything, if I were you," he said, looking to Faith.

"There's _nothing_ I wouldn't try." When he moved to stand beside the robed man, she looked over at Buffy. The slayer sat there, looking strong and confident; not like a slayer surrounded and obviously outnumbered by her enemy. This wasn't the party that was going on downstairs, this was a group of powerful beings silently challenging one another to make one false move. "I came here to talk to the elder, Declan."

"And you brought a slayer with you," he said in a manner that suggested he was a big fan of slayer's blood. "The slayer, in fact. The Great Buffy Summers. A brunette these days, apparently," he laughed.

It was hard not to notice the tension rise in the room, even the spiky haired vampire seemed to put a little more oomph in his stance. Buffy was surprised by the man's recognition of who she was. Despite the public eye being on the world of the supernatural, and a rise in number of vampires who knew about slayers since Los Angeles, it was still very rare for someone to recognize her. Faith's hand was suddenly on top of hers, resting on the arm of her chair. She looked over at the other brunette, but Faith kept her gaze on the robed vampire.

"I just can't understand a vampire who _chooses _to associate with active slayers."

"What do you know about the recent vampire attacks in Boston?" Faith asked, ignoring the man's chatter. "I've been attacked twice, Mihaela demands an explanation."

Buffy frowned at hearing about the attacks. She had been there for the first one at the cemetery, and it made so much more sense now that the vampires seemed more concerned with Faith. It was logical that they may have just been double teaming because of her strength, but the second attack—No group of vampires had tried to attack her again. That only meant one thing, they weren't after her, which further pressed her to think that Faith wasn't involved with the vampire army after all, and her maker probably wasn't either.

"Yet she sends you, her child, to do the demanding? Though, I suppose, showing her face may suggest that she isn't dead, as so many believe. Many who wouldn't take so kindly to the fact that an anarch that slaughters our kind just for her own entertainment survived their sentence of death by torture," he said, angrily.

"This coming from a man who obviously has something to hide himself. How long have you known, hmm? You show up at my place the night she arrives back in town, tell her to stay away from your ridiculous new club. How long have you known she's been alive?" She looked to the spiky haired vampire. "And this guy...where the hell has he been dining? I'm pretty sure a vamp his age should move like a slug compared to the speed he runs at. Who's blood is it? Sure as hell ain't yours."

* * *

Dawn downed her second straight shot, slamming the glass onto the bar. She coughed and then laughed at Lucy's obvious amusement. "Okay, okay. So, I don't do much drinking," she conceded, having said that she was more than capable of handling herself when it came to the world of alcohol. They had only been at the club for a few minutes, the bar having caught her eye as soon as they walked in. Instead of squealing in excitement, she had staid calm, waiting for Lucy's instructions only for the blonde to suggest they hit the bar first.

"What, too much studying gets in the way? Filing, perhaps?" Lucy teased.

"Says the work-aholic. Who knows, maybe your so called missions are really just you bar hopping all night." As exciting as that sounded, she was happy knowing that that was far from the truth. It may have been technically been their first mission with one another, but after the night they had looking for Faith and Buffy, she knew the young woman beside her was all about the life of a slayer—hunt, kill, repeat. Of course, Lucy wasn't the average slayer who was only out for blood, or better yet, dust. She gathered information through precise tracking, took vampires and demons out in unsuspecting moments, and whether vampire or demon, there was no trace left behind. "How exactly are we supposed to spot Faith in this crowd, even with your super slayer senses? I can barely see two feet in front of me."

"The question is, why is she here at all? This place isn't her style, the crowd is a bit on the snobbish side. Plus, none of the people here are looking for your typical bloody one night stands. They either want to be turned, or they want to be owned like cattle. Join a family maybe. The underground scene is much more serious."

"Good to know," Dawn said, letting her wander across the club. She stood with her back against the bar, running her hands down the sides of her black dress, suddenly wishing it wasn't as short as it was. "Do you think Faith's here for any of those reasons?"

"Doubtful." Crazy as Faith was, in her opinion, there was no way in hell the brunette was there to add a new member to the bunch. Having a human _definitely _wasn't her thing, there was no point; they couldn't supply her with food, and they sure as hell couldn't keep up with her in bed. "No one here would be good enough."

"Wow," Dawn huffed. "Conceited much?"

"And rightfully so. There are a lot things about Faith that the other slayers don't understand, so I won't hold it against you, but in this world there is no set level of strength. Sure, like slayers, sometimes being in shape already adds that extra bit of strength, but with vamps you also have to consider age, and who their maker is. Faith being turned by-" she stopped herself, knowing talking about Mihaela in public wasn't a good idea, especially not when Faith is also a part of the conversation. "Faith being turned by such an older, powerful vamp—if being what she is wasn't enough, her blood line sure as hell would be."

"Maybe they should teach _that_ at the academy," Dawn said, taking the information is. "But I guess being turned by someone that old doesn't happen often."

"Nope. If anything, the children of the current elders are practically elders themselves at this point, if they aren't already. And only young vampires carelessly turn multiple people. For the older generation it's a lot more sacred, passing on the bloodline. You can't just go out there and pick some random kid off the street, typically there's a whole process of choosing the most deserving. Though, with Faith, it was more of a revelation from what I hear. Her maker just knew." She smiled at Dawn, who was looking at her curiously. "You'd love to read a book like that, wouldn't you? The true nature of the vampire."

Dawn laughed. "Maybe."

"Hey, I might be a work-aholic as you say, but I pick up a book from time to time, too." When she was younger, she had spent most of her time curled up with a book, going off into imaginary worlds far better than her own. Then her actual life turned into what most read in a novel, and there was no need to indulge in fiction. "So, not to sound like an awe struck slayer." Which she definitely wasn't. "Tell me about your sister, The Great Buffy Summers."

Because Lucy hadn't asked her about Buffy before, she wasn't going to get frustrated with the fact that yet another slayer was picking her for info on their savior. She was sure she heard a tinge of sarcasm in Lucy's voice too, which helped. There was no question that she wasn't hanging out with the average slayer; either they wanted to be Buffy, or they wanted her position. "Well, she's stubborn, doesn't like for you to borrow her clothes, has no life, and no sense of humor. Oh, and she typically mistakes people in their twenties for toddlers she can still boss around. As if she ever had that right in the first place," she scoffed.

"I'm sensing a lot of resentment from the little sister," she laughed.

"Resentment is _such _a strong word. But I do admit some past envy."

"Maybe a little current envy too," Lucy said sympathetically. "I get it, trust me."

Dawn smiled slightly, wondering who the blonde could possibly envy. Not only was she one bad ass slayer, but she was a confident one at that. "Back when she was younger, I thought she had to be the coolest big sister ever. She was out all hours of the night, fighting evil with her friends, and Giles. The town would erupt in chaos one night, and the morning after it was as if nothing ever happened, and I just knew it was because of her. Mom was always so worried, but I knew there wasn't a fight Buffy couldn't win. There still isn't."

The brunette was very confident in that, and it almost made Lucy sad to know it wasn't true. "There's no question in my mind that she is one tough broad. She's died twice, and yet she's still kicking. With life, to boot. But-"

"She just doesn't have that spark, right?" she interjected.

"Exactly. Most of us, we've got this nasty drive that keeps us coming back for more."

"I know, I've seen it. That excitement in a slayers eyes when she hears there's a new nest to take down, or a demon who's trying to open the gates to whatever hell. Even training gets you guys all worked up, in more than one way," she laughed. "I didn't realize it, until we started opening up all the academies and recruiting, but somewhere along the lines, Buffy became less spark and more martyrdom."

"It's a tough gig to hold alone for as long as she did," Lucy stated.

"Agreed." She watched as Lucy finally took her second shot, and then looked out onto the dance floor. "Wanna dance?" she asked.

"A country girl can never say no to such an offer," she said, linking their arms together. "A little fun never hurt a flea."

* * *

"So, if you don't want me to go around asking questions about this new blood in town, that obviously isn't human blood, I'd suggest you tell me what you know," Faith said, still trying to get something out of the man. Sure, she had come to the club in hopes of talking to Declan, but because he was no longer around she was willing to ask someone a bit lower on the food chain. Someone she could easily find dirt on, and who was obviously more involved in the on-goings of Boston than she had previously thought. You couldn't just have a meeting with an elder, hence the fact that she tried the barging in approach.

"We've been hearing about a rising army here all the way in Scotland," Buffy said, taking it upon herself to finally join the conversation. The robed vampire had a habit of talking about her as if she weren't in the room, and Faith didn't seem to mind, but she did.

"And what, you came here to stop it?" he asked, laughing sarcastically. He turned his attention back to Faith. "This-"

"This is me giving you one last chance to tell me what the fuck is going on in my turf," Faith said, frustrated with the man's lack of saying anything significant. All he did was respond with questions, or his own opinion, neither of which Faith wanted to hear.

"Your turf?" he laughed, and a few of his lackeys joined in. "Let me tell you this," he said, going into a more serious tone. "This is not something to discuss in the presence of a slayer, let alone _the _slayer, and actually I take her being here as a direct threat from you, and a declaration of your loyalty, half-breed." He spat. "What, you thought I didn't know?" he asked. "As for Mihaela, tell that bitch I'll have her spine for sending you and a slayer like the fucking coward she is."

Before Buffy could fully comprehend what was being said, Faith got to her feet, hissing loudly with her fangs already extended. The rest followed, Buffy wondering just what the slayer-vampire was getting them into. She hadn't even brought a weapon, and she wasn't sure if Faith had brought more than the knife she had used to cut off her bracelet. If she hadn't needed Faith's blood for healing, she sure as hell would need it for the fight they were about to get in.

"I was hoping you wouldn't play nice," the spiky haired vampire said, excitement in his bright yellow eyes.

Faith suddenly had him by the collar, her fangs in his face, almost directly in front of his now wide eyes. "It's your lucky day," she said, turning quickly and throwing him over the balcony. For a moment he flew over the crowd, the club goers immediately quieting as he came crashing to the ground.

Buffy stood looking over the railing, leaning over the chair she had just been sitting in comfortably despite the situation. The shock of what just happened distracted her from the fact that they were still outnumbered on the second floor; she stared down at the body for a moment, hearing a few sounds of movement behind her, and watched as someone approached the unconscious vampire. It was a woman, from what she could tell, who reached down and pulled out a weapon she couldn't mistake. "Lucy," she whispered, just as the slayer used her weapon to decapitate the vampire. The slayer looked towards the balcony, and at the same time a woman beside her in a black dress turned to look as well. "Dawn?"

"Buffy."

Hearing her name, she turned back to the scene unfolding behind her. Faith was in the middle of fighting two vampires, as the robed one escaped out the back door with a few of his guards, two staying behind and now eying her.

"Paying attention to what's going up here would probably be in your best interest, Princess," Faith said, continuing to fight the two vampires. Seeing that she had only brought her knife, and one stake—two weapon policy—she figured it would be best to toss her stake over to Buffy. It'd be easier for her to chop heads off with a knife. "Here." She tossed the weapon. "Let's have some fun."

As she readied herself for the two approaching vampires, she heard the sounds of a few fights starting downstairs, and Dawn being down there in the crowd didn't make her the most comfortable person in the world. There was no time to have fun, they needed to get out, and they needed to do it fast. So, when the first vampire lunged at her, she ducked with ease, punching him in the stomach and then upper cutting him in the jaw. She kicked the second vampire in the side and then grabbed him by the head, slamming his head into her knee before staking him through the back. Next she elbowed the first vamp in the face, and as he grabbed at his nose, she staked him.

"That had to be the easiest fight I've ever-"

Faith pulled Buffy to the ground, a ball of fire just missing the slayer. They both looked back, and a large demon stood tapping his fists together, large balls of fire appearing. "Gotta run, you ain't dodging that, honey." She picked the slayer up as fast as she could, cradling her in her arms for a split second before tossing her off the balcony. Then she turned back to the demon. "But I can."

* * *

Beyond the absolute fear Buffy felt, she felt the need to kick Faith's ass for tossing her off the balcony. She held in the scream, knowing the fall would be over quick. She wasn't thrown, she was tossed, that had to lessen things a little, right? God, she hoped so. But she was surprised when she didn't hit the floor at all. She opened her closed eyes and found herself in the arms of the woman that had approached her earlier, looking up at her blue eyes once again.

The woman smiled broadly. "Need a hand, slayer?"

Lucy practically slid to a stop, coming to stand right beside them, breathing heavily. "Put her down, Lauren."

Buffy turned her head to see Lucy standing beside them, breathing heavily as if she had just been running, and figured the other slayer had tried to be the one to catch her. Another thing she'd have to thank her for, even if she hadn't exactly made it in time. The fact that a total stranger was holding her in their arms suddenly made her uncomfortable, and despite the warmth of the other woman's body, which her own body reacted to against her will, she began to shift until the woman sat her down.

"Thanks," she muttered, somewhat awkwardly.

"You were too slow, Lucy," Lauren said, with a smug grin. "As usual."

Before Lucy could respond, Dawn ran up beside them, a few scratches on her arms bleeding. "Buffy, are you okay? What are you doing here?" she yelled, over the chaos. The ones that weren't fighting, were trying to desperately flee the scene, and she was sure that they were on the right track with that idea. Underground and all, a fight like this was bound to draw some attention. They really didn't need the government riding their ass, and the vampire government sure as hell wouldn't be any help.

"What are _you _doing here?" Buffy asked, somewhat accusingly. A flash from the second floor caught her eye and she turned to see that the whole floor was on fire. Just when she was about to get worried, Faith jumped down, immediately taking out a few vampires that decided to attack her for some strange reason. Buffy turned back to the three other women. "We need to get out of here."

"Agreed." Lucy nodded, looking around a bit. "You and Faith head out the front entrance, and we'll go out the back. Lauren," she said, turning to the woman. "Get lost."

Lauren scoffed. "We need to talk."

"Some other time," she said, gritting her teeth. "Does this look like the time to talk about anything?" After shaking her head no, Lauren walked away, to Lucy's relief. She looked at Dawn and Buffy. "Let's get out of here, we can all meet back up at headquarters."

"Be careful," Buffy said, accenting each word. Both of the younger women nodded and took off, and she headed in Faith's direction. The slayer-vampire was already walking towards her, and simply grabbed her hand when they were in each others' reach, leading her towards the entrance door. "Figures," Buffy thought, not at all surprised to find that she didn't have to tell Faith what the plan of action would be. It was obvious that Faith's plan was the _only _plan.

As soon as they stepped foot outside the door, the cold air whipped by them, making Buffy shiver with a sudden case of the chills. There were lots of others running out of the club, and a few of them had even brought a few fights outside, but they didn't stick around to see how any of them turned out. Faith was continuing to pull her along, her clothes had patches burned away, and Buffy noticed she smelt like a barbeque.

"Where are we going?" she asked, trying to keep up.

"They're someone following us, or more like, multiple someones," Faith said, wondering just how many. Her adrenaline was pumping and she could barely focus in on anything with her extreme senses, she just wanted to kill, kill, kill. "I just need a little breathing room to do my thing." She let go of Buffy's hand. "We'll head into the cemetery around the block, split up and try to cut them off."

"I lost your stake," Buffy admitted.

"Well, I hope my blood still has you all jazzed up, because my knife is out of the picture. It was kind of hard to pull it out of that demon after he exploded. Just play it safe, and keep 'em occupied. I'll handle them once-"

"I can take care of myself," Buffy said, confidently. They reached the cemetery and she just walked off, splitting up as Faith had so kindly suggested before asking her opinion. She now knew what it felt like to be a junior slayer. After a moment, she broke out into a run, knowing Faith would beat her to the punch in terms of cutting the vampires off, and she was right. By the time she made it to what she hopped was the middle of the cemetery, Faith was already fighting off a handful of vampires. She grabbed a tree branch from a tree as she passed it, and started to give the slayer-vampire a hand when suddenly three vampires cu her off. It was like they had come out of nowhere.

"So, you're Buffy Summers," one of them said. He was heavy built, and bald, while the other vampire was a short woman with a bob, and the other looked like a fifteen year old boy. She thought it was best not to focus on the fact that he looked like a toddler. "I can't wait to tell everyone that I killed The Great Buffy Summers," the heavy built one, continued.

"You know," she said, getting into a fighting stance. "I really don't like being called that." The man went to kick her in the chest, but she blocked it. "Looks like you vamps aren't the only one that fed tonight." She pushed his leg back, hoping that he would fall to the ground, but he didn't. "Though, I try not to make a habit of it," she added. The female vampire swung at her and she blocked the first punch, but not the second. It hit her square in the jaw, making her head turn. "Maybe I should."

Faith, meanwhile, landed her own punch to jaw on a very dumbstruck blue haired vampire. Of course, she didn't hit him with her full strength—because sending him flying across the cemetery would only mean she'd have to run across it to kill him, when she could simply hit him in a gentler matter and make it easier for herself. Which was exactly what she did; there was enough force behind the punch to make his whole body turn, so she kicked him in the back of the knee, put a hand on both sides of his head, and twisted it until it popped off and then crumbled as dust.

The remaining vampire looked at her with eyes full of fear, he was practically shaking. Faith smiled a dangerous smile. "I guess you didn't really know what you were getting into tonight, did you?" she asked, a glint in her eyes. "How about we play a little game. I'll give you a head start..." He turned quickly, getting about ten feet before Faith suddenly stood in front of him. "Sorry, you just weren't fast enough." She headbutt him, kicked his feet from beneath him, and was about to rip his head off when she felt something coming in her direction. In reflex, she caught it, and smiled when she saw it was a piece of a tree branch.

After staking the vampire, she got to her feet and dusted herself off. When she turned around to see how Buffy was doing, especially after tossing her what she assumed was the slayer's only weapon, she was surprised to find that the smaller woman had already taken out the three vampires she was fighting a few seconds before. The thought of the fight she missed further excited Faith, images of the petite slayer moving skillfully flashing before her.

Buffy, having a bit of trouble breathing, tried to take deep breaths to slow her pounding heart. As fun as it was to have that extra bit of strength, Faith's blood was really taking a toll on her after that fight. She was so warm that it felt like she was going to break out into a sweat any moment; her palms were already sweating. The hum that had followed her all night clouded her sense of hearing, giving the feel of her eardrums vibrating. Her fists clenched and unclenched, as she stared back at the woman who was now staring at her, her expression dead serious. It almost made Buffy uncomfortable, how intensely Faith was staring at her. And, the mausoleum she knew was only a few feet behind her made her all too conscious of what had happened the last time they ended up fighting in the cemetery.

But this time, when Faith sped across the cemetery, it wasn't to save Buffy from being killed only to kidnap her for a pointless sparring session. She came to a dead stop in front of the slayer, staring down at her as the shorter woman stared back, having not even flinched at her sudden movement. Faith found that incredibly appealing.

They stayed in each others' space for a moment, Buffy still breathing heavily, and it wasn't just the fight that had her chest heaving. Faith stared silently, taunting her with their close proximity. The look in her eyes almost made Buffy weak at the knees; she knew what was about to happen. So when Faith suddenly had Buffy backed against the mausoleum, running her hands up the outsides of Buffy's thighs, the slayer didn't hesitate in following their guidance in wrapping her legs around the taller woman's waste, snaking her arms around the woman's neck at the same time.

Coming into contact with Faith sent shocks through her, and her body screamed for her to move things along, but Faith was setting an intense, slow pace. The slayer-vampire ran her hands up the underside of Buffy's thighs, slowly pushing her skirt up, and then gave her ass a hard smack-She thanked the gods for skimpy lacy underwear and there lack of cheek coverage.

Buffy hissed, moving one of her hands into Faith's hair, while keep her other arm tight around the other woman's neck. Next thing she knew, Faith was kissing her hungrily, the pace going from zero to one-fifty faster than she could comprehend, but she kissed her back with the same amount of force, nipping and biting before tongues collided.

The once low hum was so overwhelming that white noise now sounded in her ears, but was soon muffled out by the sounds of their moans, and Faith's grunting. She felt a bit lightheaded too, with their chests pressed tightly together, but she wasn't going to let that get in the way of things. Not after literally dreaming of touching, and being touched by, Faith for years.

As they continued to explore each others' mouths, she untangled her fingers from the slayer-vampire's locks, first letting them graze over the other woman's neck, and then her collarbone before giving her breast a full on squeeze. She expected to hear a moan from Faith, but was instead surprised when Faith pulled away from their kiss and bit her neck hard, making her whimper—She was glad Faith's fangs weren't involved, though her dreams were full of them as well.

After biting down on Buffy's neck, Faith turned and laid her on the ground, keeping her position between the slayer's thighs. She slid her tongue up the warm skin of the woman's neck, and then aggressively sucked on her pulse point, reveling in the sounds of Buffy's gasps and moans. One of her hands began to massage one of Buffy's breasts, as the slayers fingers tangled themselves in her thick locks, but Faith soon grew frustrated with the material between her hand and the woman's heaving chest. She moved her hand down further and slipped it under Buffy's blouse, scratching her nails over the woman's stomach.

Buffy shivered, feeling another flood of arousal wash through her. She could feel her already wet panties clinging to her pussy, and when Faith's fingers slid beneath her bra to tweak her nipple, she couldn't stop herself from grinding her hips up into Faith's. Her deep moan was cut off by Faith moving from her neck back to her mouth, kissing her sloppily before sucking her tongue between her plump lips. The hand that was once tweaking her nipple, and massaging her breast was squeezed between them, Faith lifting her hips slightly to give herself a bit more room.

It was at this point, as Faith lightly ran her fingers of Buffy's panty covered center, that Buffy decided to try her luck again by moving a hand from Faith's hair to the slayer-vampire's breast. But once again, Faith removed her mouth from Buffy's lips and bit her hard on the neck. Buffy got the hint moving her hand around to the woman's back instead, sneaking a hand beneath her shirt. She'd touch _some_ skin if nothing else!

Faith continued to tease the shorter woman, running her fingers over the fabric of the slayer's panties over and over again, eliciting low moans that were like music to her ears. The woman's body heat alone had her seeping, but she wasn't so concerned with herself. Finally, she moved her hand beneath the lacy confines, moaning at the moisture she found. Parting the woman's lips, she pulled back so she could watch Buffy react to her touch. To see her furrowed brow, and bruised lips part as she gasped at the feel of Faith's middle finger sliding over her clit, as two other fingers parted her pussy lips.

"Mmm," Buffy moaned, as Faith's finger danced circles around her throbbing clit. Her body shook in anticipation, and she could already feel a building force in her lower abdomen, threatening to break through as Faith applied a bit more pressure.

Unable to resist, Faith lowered her lips onto the slayers, sucking and nipping on her bottom lip before kissing her deeply, not shying away from thrusting her tongue further into the other woman's mouth. She teased her hole for a moment, dipping the tip of her finger in and out before driving two fingers deep inside of her, as she flicked her tongue across the top of Buffy mouth.

A quiet yelp escaped from Buffy's lips at the mixed sensations; the sort of tickling of the roof of her mouth, mixing with the sensations of being filled by Faith's fingers. Her first few thrusts were long, slow thrusts, pushing deeper and deeper. But they grew steadier until they were rapid, Buffy's moans growing higher in pitch, her hips beginning to meet the slayer-vampire thrust for thrust, rising from the grass beneath it. The sounds of her wetness clicked in the air, along with her jagged breaths, and a few expletives she was eventually able to form until her walls suddenly clenched and unclenched, and then clenched again.

"Oh fuck..." she gasped, as her walls began to clench rapidly. She was trembling, and her hips struggled to continue their movement. "Don't stop...don't..." Knowing the reaction she would get, Buffy snuck her hands into the back of Faith's pants, pulling her in deeper by her ass. Faith clamped down on her neck again, and that's all it took

Buffy's body went rigid, her back arched high off the ground, all noises—besides the clicking—stopped as Faith continued to move her fingers within the slayer's tight spasmodic walls. The slayer was seeing stars, her whole body tense with pleasure. It was the moment she dreamed of so many times; falling into ecstasy under the other woman's touch, and it felt so unlike any of her past orgasms. When she was finally able breath, her hips jerked against Faith's hand, waves pulsing through her. Short ragged breaths and moans sounding, as finally started to come down.

Faith kissed the slayer's neck, listening to the sound of her moaning dreamily. "You falling asleep on me, slayer?" she chuckled, knowing that Buffy still hadn't opened her eyes.

Those words made Buffy remember a dream she once had. A dream of a moment just like the one they were having; Faith's mouth in the crook of her neck, her own arms lazily draped around the slayer-vampire's waist. In the dream, she had replied to that exact statement, and Faith had sat up to look down at her with a soft smile. It was a perfect moment, a basking moment. A moment she wanted to experience, so she said just what she had said in the dream. A simple, "Never."

But when Faith sat up slightly, there was no soft smile on her face. She didn't delicately remove a stray hair from Buffy's brow. Instead, she wore a cocky grin, and laughed a laugh that went right along with it. "What, you think can really keep up with all of this?"

She said it jokingly, but it didn't ruin the moment for Buffy any less. That was the difference between her dream world, and her reality. "I know I can." She grinned, leaving the situation as it was. Faith got up from on top of her, and helped her to her feet. "Thanks," she said, dusting herself off, and arranging her clothes so it didn't look like she had just had impromptu sex in a cemetery.

"Walk you home?" Faith asked, putting her hands in her pocket.

Buffy nodded. "Sure."


	8. Touching Base Reminisces of the Night B

Sorry about the wait! So, I just heard that (due to my lack of thinking, I put the name, but have now erased it) died in the comics...and I've gotta say, I totally had a moment. Like true heartache. I could not even celebrate Buffy turning 30 (in technical years). So, I stepped up to the plate, ignored some homework...and decided to get this shit done. Also, thanks for the reviews, I should be able to respond to them all from this point on, and thanks to my new beta Salty-Goodness-Lover! That being said, before I was sure my files were compatibility I went through my file and did a bit of editing, then they emailed me their edited version, and I had done so much editing that I just tried to compare them side by side. That means, if mistakes are left, they are mine.

Chapter Eight: Touching Base (Reminisces of the Night Before)

Dawn stood in the far corner of the kitchen, leaning against the counter as she stared at her mug in the microwave. Bowling water on the stove would have taken longer than she was willing to wait, longer than she was sure she could stand up, considering how tired she was and an all too recent injury. The microwave dinged, and as she removed her mug the small bubbles within it began to subside. Technology was good for something beyond entertainment, after all. She placed the mug on the counter, picked up the t-bag she had set out, and placed the tea filled bag into the hot water, instantly getting a whiff of her usual strong morning tea.

As she dipped the bag in the water repeatedly, mostly because she didn't like to stand still for the necessary time it took for the tea to actually be ready, her mind wandered back to the night before. After arriving back at the academy, both of them relieved at not being caught due to their appearance which told the tale of an obvious fight, she and Lucy had gone out on the balcony in the library to look for Buffy and Faith to arrive. It was a large area for any of the girls that wanted to sit outside and read, study, or eat. There was sometimes the occasional date out there, because of course there were a few couples in the academy. A few painting classes came out for their landscape assignments; rows and rows of trees with a very distant glow of city. It was beautiful, and all of the girls loved having such a view, but the cold weather had recently forced most inside. For them, it being so late however, they didn't have too much to worry about anyways.

_"God, it's freezing out here," Dawn had said, pulling her jacket tighter as she bounced slightly, and tried to keep her teeth from chattering. "You'd think I'd be used to this stuff by now."_

_Lucy had just smiled, a little blood dripping from a cut on the side of her forehead. The blonde hadn't done much talking since they had left the club, even after various attacks they had to ward off, but Dawn didn't feel comfortable asking her what was on her mind. She knew Lucy wasn't one to shy away from saying what she had to say, at least not when she was around anyways, so the silence meant that whatever was going on with Lucy, it was personal. Too personal to talk about. _

_"There they are." Lucy had pointed out into the distance where two figures could faintly be seen by Dawn's ordinary human vision, but she believed it was her sister. At that moment, the slayer beside her linked their arms. "Let's go inside and get that leg of yours stitched up."_

_Leaning on the shorter, but stronger girl, Dawn limped over to one of the long tables that stretched through the library. They pushed aside a few chairs, and then she sat on top of the table, sliding back some so she could prop her leg up on it. The cut on her calf turned out to be pretty deep, and it would need stitches as Lucy had predicted. While Lucy left the library to retrieve a first-aid kit, she wondered if maybe they had just had their last outing together, but when the blonde returned she had started to talk a bit more._

_They were both sitting on top of the table when Lucy finished stitching her leg, having found it easier to stitch the wound with Dawn's leg in her lap, and Dawn insisted on looking at the cut on the blonde's head. She told Lucy to move closer, so then she was sitting between the girl's spread legs, her own bent at the knees, feet on the table on either side of the slayer._

_Sitting up straighter, she looked at the cut and found that it was practically healed. "That has to be some kind of record," she had laughed, relaxing into a slight slouch as she let her fingers move from the cut, grazing the blonde slayer's soft skin. Their eyes had met then, and she found that Lucy's features had regained the intensity they had carried upon leaving the club. Just when she was about to say something, Lucy had began to lean towards her slowly..._

"Morning," Lucy said, her head suddenly popping into Dawn's peripherals. She noticed the young woman's slight jump, and smiled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Taking a step back, she gave the brunette room to turn and face her. "How's the leg?"

Dawn removed the teabag from her mug, tossing it into the sink before grabbing the spoon she had set out and stirring her fresh, hot tea. "It's okay. I'm thinking of having Willow do a light healing spell for me, that way I won't have to worry about getting out of dodge if any sudden danger were to arise." That and in case she happened to go out somewhere danger happened to frequent.

"Good. Well, in that case, I was wondering if you wanted to go out later. I know this place, and it'd be cool if you came with me tonight," she said, moving forward slightly. Dawn just took a sip of her drink, staring down at her, which made her a little uneasy where she had been very confident before. "It's a club, which I know—been there done that, but this place is different. It's...it's kind of special to me."

"Full moon tonight," a girl said walking in with a few other slayers. "Think we'll see any weres?"

Lucy looked over her shoulder, frowning at the question. When the slayer's started to look at her and Dawn curiously however, she turned back to the woman with a small smile. "What do you say, you up for it?"

Dawn sighed. "I can't."

Lucy's smile fell, replaced by a worrying frown. She looked over her shoulder, making sure no one was too close to them before turning back to Dawn, moving in to talk quietly. "Is this about last night?" It wasn't surprising to her that Dawn was having _some_ trouble with what had happened the night before. Most of the night, once they had gone their separate ways, had consisted of her wracking her brain trying to contemplate it all.

_She watched as Dawn turned slightly to get a few of the first-aid items in order, knowing that though earlier she may have needed stitches for the cut on her head, it was probably on the verge of healing itself. Since they had left the club, having bumped into someone she hadn't expected to see ever again let alone in Boston, her mind kept wandering to her life outside of the slayer world. The parts of her that were complicating her life more than she could have ever imagined, and it wasn't that she didn't love and appreciate every aspect of her world, it was just that it was all so much. There was always something she needed to worry about, or keep in the back of her mind, and she just wanted a few moments of peace. A few moments to not think about all the crazy shit that was happening in her life, as it had been for years. _

_When Dawn was completely facing her again, asking her to move closer, she finally figured out why she was so comfortable around the brunette; why she was willing to let the woman go with her to the club earlier that night. It was the air they created between them, the sort of ease that she felt. There were no complications in the relationship, at least not direct complications, and she didn't feel like some outsider with the brunette, even though they were very different from one another. Perhaps it was because both of them were constantly surrounded by people that labeled them, and could see no further than that label; couldn't see them._

_"That has to be some kind of record."_

_Dawn's fingers grazing the side of her face sent shivers through her, and because she was still wrapped up in her thoughts of what it was that made her feel so at ease, she mindlessly lent forward. It was Dawn's pulling back that lead to the landing of the severity of the situation._

_"Lucy, I-" A noise caught their attention, and looking across the library they saw a young teen pick up the book she had dropped, apologizing before exiting quickly. Dawn cleared her throat. "We should clean this up."_

_At first, she started to move, to say something instead of just leaving some awkwardness in the air, but when the towel on her thigh shifted too quickly she had to stop. Placing the towel back over Mihaela's last feeding spot, she couldn't help but really think about what had just happened, and further more, what she had hoped would follow. "Yeah, okay," she said, standing slowly to pull down her skirt as she went. What a hassle those bite marks were turning out to be. _

_While she picked up the unused contents of the first-aid box and began to file everything away neatly, she glanced over at Dawn. The taller brunette was gathering all the things that needed to be thrown away, seemingly unfazed by her attempt to kiss her, or the fact that someone walked in on them. Dawn not caring about whatever gossip that was sure to make its way through the academy by sunrise was one of the reasons she liked the young woman. She didn't care what people thought about her, except maybe her family, but everyone had their issues there. And Dawn hadn't freaked out in a grossed out homophobic way, which was to be expected seeing that Willow Rosenberg was basically family to her. Yes, she could see that maybe it just wasn't the time to talk about it. But that definitely was the least of her worries._

_Innocently enough, seeing the kiss didn't even happen and therefore didn't lead to any other activities, the intent was a serious dilemma. In no way was she supposed to be touched sexually by anyone other than Mihaela, and it wasn't because she was eternally hers and hers alone, because that seemed a bit extreme and she wasn't fooling herself when it came to the elders true love. It was because she was in the process of joining a family, or attempting to. There were rules laid down, and until she was officially part of the family—most likely still in her current state, she was forbidden to let anyone other than Mihaela touch her intimately. It wasn't something the ancient vampire was unwilling to bend, but Lucy had agreed, so it was put in place and going back on it now would be seen as a weakness. And how does one prove their devotion if it isn't through self sacrifice? In the vampire world, that's what it was all about, and if she were turned it would be easy for her to only obey Mihaela until the woman said otherwise. Not being a vampire, to her, meant that she needed to be strong._

_So, after she and Dawn parted she went to her room in the academy and after undressing, she laid down. All the taking off the makeup and showering would have to wait till morning, she needed to do some thinking. There was no way she was going to screw up in joining Mihaela's family, but did that mean that she wouldn't be able to ever talk to Dawn again? Well for one, that would make her look extremely immature in Dawn's eyes, and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Accessing the nature of the relationship was essential._

_In terms of the moment on the table, she was sure that it was just because of a mutual existence that she had just figured out explained the whole absurdity of letting Dawn go to the club with her earlier that night. But then again, it was foolish of her to begin to get close with anyone in the academy. If she needed to make a run for it, staying gone and out of sight usually required not telling people anything about your past, or taking them to any places you may frequent in your secret double life. Had she lost her footing somewhere and hadn't noticed, or was it purely that she had lived with multiple people for so long that living on her own, and barely seeing the ancient vampire at all, had finally taken its toll? Before Mihaela, she had never been the solo type. It wasn't how she was raised._

_Figuring that it was loneliness mixed with a bit of post slay rush, she decided it was perfectly possible for her and Dawn to continue being friends, but it had to stay separate from her vampire life. And now that Lauren was around, she had yet another aspect of her life to deal with. The part that came before slayers and vampires; her younger days in Mississippi. There was no harm in having someone to have a little fun with, and though things going sour were very likely in terms of her mission at the academy, she was not going to take the time to over think the aftermath. If some hurt feelings lead to bitterness down the years, if it all didn't result in death, then that was that and there was nothing she could do about it. _

_"_Well, is it about last night?" she asked, Dawn having not yet answered.

"Lucy, it's not because of last night, but-"

"It just wasn't a big deal," Lucy blurted, interrupting the brunette. Dawn's brow rose in response, and so the blonde took a deep breath. "It doesn't have to mean anything."

For the first time, Dawn remembered something about the girl standing before her. In one single moment Lucy had reminded her of the fact that they were not the same age, but asking for that number at that moment would have seemed petty. "But it does, Lucy."

"I really didn't expect you to freak out about this," Lucy admitted.

"I'm not freaking out." The girl rolled her eyes, and Dawn scoffed at the ridiculousness of the blonde's attitude. "You really think I would freak out about any type of girl on girl action? I lived with Willow and her deceased girlfriend, who was also like family to me, while Buffy was dead...the second time. And have lived with Willow ever since, minus some time I spent away at school. So, I think I'm a little above whatever typical reaction you thought I was having just then."

"Well, I think you'd agree knowing someone who's gay and figuring out you're gay are two very different experiences," Lucy said, folding her arms.

Dawn squinted, her mouth slightly agape. "I'm going to ignore this whole encounter ever happened, because otherwise I would seriously reconsider our friendship. The reason that almost kiss mattered last night is because I'm not supposed to want to kiss _anyone_ other than my boyfriend."

They both stood in silence, bits and pieces of other conversations filling their ears. It was almost like Lucy had forgotten Dawn too had a life elsewhere. "I'm not exactly single, either," she said, looking at the floor. "But I still don't think it's a big deal." When she looked up at the brunette, it was to see a frown on the woman's face, which she honestly wasn't expecting.

Dawn was starting to wonder if she should reconsider taking the encounter into consideration, because there was either some kind of disproportion in their attraction to one another, or one of them didn't exactly carry the same monogamous tone as the other. Whether one or the other, she did not want to deal with either of them during her Boston trip; a temporary stay. However, before they could say anything else to one another, Mimi Hampton walked into the kitchen, and Dawn just knew there would be trouble.

"Lucy," Mimi said, approaching them.

Lucy did yet another dramatic eye roll before turning around with a chipper smile on her face. "Afternoon, Mimi. How was your morning run?"

Dawn huffed at Lucy's phoniness, sipping on her tea and deciding to simply observe the two slayers, as a few others in the kitchen were already doing.

"I heard the two of you went out again last night. Do you not understand the word suspension? And we've already talked about taking civilians out into the field, no matter how trained they are. Until she's certified as a watcher, she can't be out there with you. We both know your missions haven't been running so smoothly lately, and I'm betting the underground club collapse I've been hearing about this morning leads right back to someone in this kitchen."

"Mimi, I assure you that I played no part in whatever club collapse you're insinuating I caused, but I understand what you're saying. My suspension is something I'm taking very seriously, and that fallout last night where Dawn and I were was not something I anticipated. A night of fun gone wrong, is what it was."

"You expect me to believe that?" Mimi questioned, stepping into the shorter slayer's space. "Here in my district there are rules about _all_ kinds of patrolling, which includes checking out possible leads in inclosed spaces."

Dawn watched as Lucy continued to nod, as if she were seriously taking in what the bullying control freak of a slayer was saying. There were definitely a few things she was starting to notice about the blonde, and one was that every moment of her life seemed to be some sort of mission. She was starting to wonder which one was the _real_ Lucy.

"I think you've forgotten one important thing," Dawn said, breaking her silence. She moved to stand beside Lucy. "You don't control either one of us, especially not me. I'm an adult, I can go anywhere I want, with whoever I want and there's nothing you or anyone else can say about it. I don't know what your conversation concerning us going out the other night was like in detail, beyond your suspension tactic, but mine and Willow's was pretty simple. She said be careful, I said...okay."

"And that's all fine and dandy back in Scotland, but here we run the show, and I don't have time to worry about our leader's sister getting killed in my district. It just doesn't look good, and I feel obligated to keep all of you alive, if possible. While you're here, I would appreciate it if you just get in line like everyone else. We have a system that works-"

"That's not what I hear," Dawn mumbled.

Mimi frowned, leaning her head forward as if to try to hear the woman better. "Excuse me?"

Internally, Lucy wished Dawn wouldn't be so challenging for one moment. Surely the older woman had experience with playing nice so not to draw any unnecessary attention. But it wasn't like her own situation was well known. Or at least, not the real _important _situation.

"I said, that's not what I hear. From what I've seen and heard there is a serious imbalance of power here between the top slayers in this academy, and I think you forget exactly who I am, and who I know." Feeling a little heated, she set her tea down, taking a more aggressive stance. Mimi was slightly taller than her, but that didn't matter. Slayer or not, there was no way she was going to submit to the cocky slayer before her. "I get that this is your place, but that doesn't mean you control every aspect of these girls' lives. You encourage them to do the right thing, to be safe, and work as a team, but you can't control them. And when you try, typically there's not such a good reaction. Buffy herself has been voted out of leadership, don't think it can't happen to you."

"Is that a threat?" Mimi asked, getting in the other brunette's face. "You using your supposed resources to impeach me would be a serious mistake. As usual, you people who aren't even one of us think you can run our lives, but we are a team. We are a family, and a slayer sticks with her own," she said, looking from Dawn to Lucy, and then back to Dawn. "You try it, I dare you to. I want to see how tough you really are."

Without thinking, Dawn pushed the girl and though it did have enough force behind it to actually move Mimi, there was no question in her mind that the fist she saw coming towards her face would surely make contact, so she simply closed her eyes and waited.

"What do you think you're doing?" Buffy asked, gripping Mimi's arm. She looked down the length of the girl's extended arm seeing that the fist was indeed aiming for her sister's face. "Please tell me you weren't about to punch my sister in the face."

Dawn's eyes went wide. This was not a situation she expected to land in. "Buffy, it's fine. I pushed her first."

"Why?" her sister asked.

"Because she won't back off. She found out about me and Lucy going out again last night, and now she's trying to put us both under lock down." Deciding to leave the latter threats of an uprising alone, she simply glared at the head slayer, who attempted to pull her arm away but failed.

Buffy simply let it go, laughing at what she had just heard. "I guess without Andrew around you don't get to hear all the tales of Dawn Summers being where she shouldn't be at the wrong time. Leave the both of them alone. If they get into trouble, I'll deal with it. That way, there will be no need for any more of these confrontations."

"You can't just come here and undercut my authority."

"I'm not trying to undercut your authority, Mimi. This is about the fact that we have bigger things to worry about than what my sister and Lucy do for fun around here. I promise once this is over Dawn will be out of your hair and will just go back to being a pain in my ass, and mine alone."

"I resent that," Dawn declared. "I will not be treated like a child here when I'm the only one acting like an adult. Minus the pushing, I will admit. That was very strange, and I apologize, but being here sucks when I'm constantly being treated like someone that is an obligation to be around, or even someone who doesn't warrant any type of seriousness in a situation that _is_ obviously a big deal."

"Dawnie," Buffy began, but her sister just raised a hand to silence her.

"Just shut up. All I wanted was a nice quiet morning." She picked up her mug and headed out of the kitchen, mumbling a low, "This is exactly why I need my own place."

Buffy turned back to Lucy and Mimi. "Please, just leave it alone," she said before exiting the kitchen. Willow was waiting for her in one of the rooms upstairs where she was setting up everything they needed to do the spell to test her blood, as well as a few select slayers. Just as she was passing through the main corridor, she spotted Kennedy across the way. They both hesitated in their steps, looking at one another for a moment before Kennedy continued on her way.

_Buffy walked into the academy slowly, peeking her head in first to see if she saw or heard anyone. There was minimal movement from what could tell, so she entered the low lit school and headed towards her room. She was sure there were easier and faster ways to get to her room, ones that probably wouldn't have so much activity around it usually, but she couldn't remember that part of the tour. A few girls did look her way as she went past them with a simple, 'goodnight.' But most of them were just walking zombies, either up because they couldn't sleep, or up because they just got home from their own extracurricular activities._

_It wasn't until she was about to turn into the hallway her room was in that she bumped into Kennedy. "Oh, hey Kennedy."_

_"Buffy?" the slayer said, her voice raspy with sleep. "Are you just getting home from your patrol? Willow said you left before the second team went out." After wiping her eyes a bit, she got a clearer view of the woman before her, along with the bruised bite marks on her neck. "Whoa. What the fuck are those?"_

_"Hmm?" Suddenly realizing where Kennedy was looking, she began to rub her neck. "Oh, that's nothing. Some demon with weird claws, I was worried that the jabbing would lead to deformation," she laughed. "But, it hasn't. Thank goodness."_

_Kennedy stared at her with a blank expression. "That had to be the worse lie I've ever heard in my whole entire life, and I've heard my fair share from the always late arrival in my morning class, trust me. Buffy, are you..." She moved closer, dipping her head and sniffing the air slightly. The older slayer moved back, looking a bit appalled. "Did you get laid?" She paused. "Are you fucking the hybrid?"_

_Sure that Willow hadn't told Kennedy about her dreams, or where she was going that night, she was shocked by the younger slayer's ability to just guess that she had not only had sex, but with Faith specifically. Despite the fact that Willow did truly love Kennedy, there was a mutual agreement between the original scoobs—some things stayed between them._

_"I-I, there wasn't." She didn't even know what she was trying to say, but within herself she made a decision that she knew she was going to stick to. "Yes, I am."_

_"Are you fucking kidding me? And this is a good idea, how exactly?" Kennedy asked. "Now I know you've had a thing for vamps in the past, but this is just getting out of control. There's no way you could possibly see this going well. We know nothing about her. Absolutely nothing, other than the fact that she's potentially dangerous, and that her maker is the oldest female vampire. Red flags, anyone?"_

_Though she understood Kennedy's concerns, she never took kindly to others trying to control her life, or judging it either. "Listen, I know you may not understand, and that's okay, but you don't need to worry."_

_"Don't I?" she asked, with some sadness. "Buffy, you're having a secret affair with a slayer-vampire who's past is a big question mark, and she's the child of someone even more enigmatic and dangerous. Going out with her, alone, is completely irresponsible on your part. Think about your family and friends. I'm sure Willow knew where you were tonight, and she may have seemed fine last time you saw her, but when you were gone I could tell something was worrying her. Seriously worrying. You need to get your act together. Let's get this mission done and go home."_

Buffy found Willow in a large classroom with no windows. She had requested certain rooms in each academy for spells only from the very beginning, saying it is essential for ones practices to have a space devoid of disruption, that also becomes familiar over time. Buffy remembered being very receptive that day, it was a very big day in which they all decided just what was going to happen post-Sunnydale. All of them had imagined endless possibilities, especially Buffy haven finally ending her time in Sunnydale, walking away as one of many, except for the one and only. Turns out she hadn't been the one and only for a while, but she couldn't really count Faith as a fellow slayer.

"Morning Buff. How was your night?" Willow asked, making some odd shapes on the floor with violet grains from a jar. "Kennedy said she bumped into you _really_ late last night. Anything interesting happen?"

"Interesting would be one way to put it," the slayer said, sitting cross legged on the floor a few feet away from where the witch was working. "We went out to an underground club-"

"Wouldn't happen to be the one that collapsed due to a mysterious fire, would it?" Willow asked, with a slight smirk. Though the whole ordeal was a little worrying, Buffy being in the same room with her without any injuries she could see made her imagine the scene unfolding excitingly. Chaotic, with grinning slayers at the helm, fighting the good fight. Kennedy always came back with a smile on her face after a victorious battle that left her with barely a scratch.

Buffy nodded. "That would be the one, but I'm still not really sure how that happened," she admitted, thinking back to the moments just before Faith tossed her off the balcony. "I think one of the vampires there, this robed guy, seemed very important, probably had something to do with the demon that was there. It would tap it's hands together and fire would appear. I think it was there as some sort of emergency protection, everyone else in the club at least looked somewhat human if not completely. This demon was big, possibly of the scale-ly variety. Faith kind of threw me off the balcony in the club when the fire was added to the chaos, then all of sudden—boom. The whole balcony's on fire."

Willow's brows rose. "Huh. Well, did you figure out why Faith took you to that club. It's a very private establishment, and the people that go there don't typically go just to have fun, or to let a few vamps have a bite."

"That would explain the robed guy, and also an elder named...Declan. I'm pretty sure that's who Faith was counting on seeing there, but after she just barged into his private party upstairs the robed guy told him he'd deal with us, basically. Then the elder left."

"Hmm, it's very rare for an elder to make an appearance, even at a place like that. They usually don't associate with younger vampires, unless they're trying to take over. Most of them are known for being recluses, even so far as to eventually be speculated as being dead, like Mother Mihaela."

"Maybe this Declan is the guy we're looking for, he could have been there looking for recruits. The one with the robe traveled around with this posy of vampires that Faith said were way to strong and fast for their age, and that it wasn't the robed ones blood that was the cause of it, for sure. She said finding their blood source could tell us just who's behind this sudden rise up, when most of the vamps in the world aren't as interested in taking over the world anymore."

Willow started to place a few crystals on the floor, and then handed a few of them to Buffy, pointing to their places on the floor. "It would be much easier to do that if we had a sample of their blood. There are plenty of blood banks across America that now cater to vampires."

"They could be using blood banks all down the cost, a few of them could just be covers with a few clients coming in for that extra umph, so when the time comes-"

"They'll be ready for the call," Willow concluded. "This is bigger than we thought."

"No surprise there," Buffy said, setting down the last of the crystals. "If we don't figure this all out soon, and stop it from the source, we're going to need more than just the slayers here to stop them. We may have to call in a few of the overseas teams."

"Xander left this morning to talk with the team in Beijing. Things have been pretty stable there lately, and we figured last night, after Kennedy's team found this vamp hide-out on the way back to the grounds, bringing in a few more girls would be a good idea. The problem is that we can't have all our best girls here, so they're going to have to find a way to divide things up. Move a few girls around every where."

"With the way things are looking, we may not be able to do that if we can't stop this blood from moving down the coast. We don't even know how much they've put out yet, which is a big problem." Though Buffy had spent most of her night consumed with the sensations she had felt in the cemetery, eventually she was able to fully comprehend all that happened that night, and what it it all meant. The dangers that were sure to come. "We may have to call Angel, see if we can get him to call in a few favors outside the slayer realm."

"Do you want me to take care of it, or-"

"No, I'll call him and give him all the details on the situation," Buffy said, shaking her head.

Willow grabbed a book from a shelf and approached her best friend. "_All_ the details?"

"_All _the details," Buffy answered. "There are a few things I need to talk to him about, things that I think only he can help me understand about this whole thing with Faith," she said, looking down at the ground. Finding the redhead's close proximity and questioning gaze a bit unnerving, Buffy walked over to one of the shelves to lean against it.

"Buffy," Willow said calmly. "What happened last night?"

_"I get it, you know. That itch for a fight, the fearlessness even against all odds."_

_They both slowed to a stop, Buffy turning to face Faith having finally made it back to academy grounds. The walk had been far from silent to her surprise, and the intimacy earlier that night no longer filled her senses. All the adrenaline had finally subsided, and now all was left was that low hum. Even the vampire blood in her system seemed to flow in a hushed pace. She wondered if it had anything to do with Faith's overwhelming calmness. Looking at the slayer-vampire, if you ignored her crisp clothing from the fire at the club, you wouldn't suspect that hours before she'd attacked someone out of anger, leading to a chaotic outburst in the low-key establishment. Nor would you suspect that she had unleashed such unrestrained passion upon the slayer that was standing in front of her._

_Faith nodded her head towards the academy. "Looks like they beat us here," she said, spotting Lucy and Dawn on the balcony just before they turned to go inside the academy. "I guess they didn't take as many detours as we did," she laughed. _

_Buffy just smiled and then looked down at her shoes. "Well, I guess-"_

_"You know the thing I don't get about you?" Faith interjected, and Buffy's head shot up so their eyes met. "There are so many other ways you can take care of things here. You could have the witch do a few spells, and everything you want to know would be revealed. At least, in terms of me, and maybe even Mihaela. If you're lucky enough to catch her," she laughed. "But instead of taking the easy route, you decide to literally put your life on the line every single second you spend with me, not to mention letting yourself be surrounded by vamps without any backup at the club. I could snap your neck before you realized I've even moved; I could suck you dry and leave you out here in the cold, and no one would know you were even out here. Except maybe your sister and the other slayer, but even then...they'd be too late, because they have this sort of trust after seeing us together at the club and they're probably not thinking that I'd just outright kill you now."_

_"Are you planning on killing me?" Buffy asked almost sure of the answer and that, she knew, was the problem. That was exactly what Faith was trying to say. Somewhere along the lines, after spending time with the other woman without being killed on multiple occasions, she had gained some kind of trust in her safety as if she weren't in the presence of what was surely to become a legendary creature, whether good or evil._

_"That's not the point, it doesn't even matter," Faith answered. _

_The slayer scoffed but said nothing._

_"I've met slayers with a thing for vampires, and you don't strike me as the type to walk that line. But then again, I know that you've dated a vampire before. That you were in love with him even. Somehow, you trusted that your life wasn't in danger, because he had a soul. Which, by the way, doesn't mean a god damn thing when it counts." She paused for a moment, lost in thought before she shook it off. "I could see you feeling safe with him because he's weaker, but the name Angelus strikes no fear where I'm concerned, and I think you know that says a lot."_

_Buffy was more than aware of what Faith was saying, the point she was trying to prove. One of the most legendary vampires was no legend to Faith, and the number of slayers he may have killed, or people even, paled in comparison of the damage she could do. "I don't trust you completely," she said, quietly._

_"But you trust me with your life, and that's more important than anything whether you can admit it or not. Don't you ever wonder why?" she asked, taking a step forward. "Or are you so blinded by whatever it is that you haven't even realized how moronic every decision you've made in Boston has been?"_

_"Why are you saying this to me? I'm not afraid of you, so what? I've been through more than you could ever imagine. I've died twice and came back both times to continue fighting what I was destined to fight. It's always the same, a new enemy comes along and they're supposedly invincible, and yet...who's left standing? Me. Little old mortal me. The facts mean nothing to me, because in our world there is nothing that's set in stone. You existing at all says that."_

_"I was just curious is all. Just doing a bit of thinking," Faith said as she began to back away. "Funny though, I've never heard of you hanging out with these not so invincible enemies, or letting them fuck you in a cemetery," she smirked. "Till next time." In a blur, she turned and then vanished. _

"I know part of it comes from all the dreams I've had over the years, and all the time we spent together in them. It's not logical, but I just can't help but feel this sort of...comfortableness around her. Like my life isn't in danger, and she isn't someone I'd ever have to worry about, but—I don't know," Buffy sighed.

Willow nodded, still taking in all the details of the night. Kennedy had told her about their encounter in the hall, even going to far as to mention that she may have seem some bruising in the neck area, and the redhead was more than relieved to find out that they hadn't been bruised puncture wounds. But the fact still remained, Buffy was _too _comfortable with being around the slayer-vampire. "You told me before that you had all of these _feelings_ because of your dreams of her, do you think maybe they've somehow become your real life feelings for her? You know, beyond just feeling safe around her?"

"I don't even know her," Buffy said, and the fact never seemed more true than it was in that moment. "She's nothing like the Faith in my dreams, except for the whole thrill seeking and lusty outbursts thing, but that makes sense. She's a slayer _and _a vampire."

"How do you think Angel's going to help?" she asked.

"For the longest time, when I couldn't see her face in my dreams, I thought it was him I was dreaming about. That maybe I was dreaming of a time where we'd be able to be together, and what's so scary about that is not that it's completely ridiculous, but also that I didn't know if it was Angel or Angelus. Sometimes she'd be so violent, so evil, and still I was there by her side. She would kill people, torture them, feed from them. Then suddenly we're going at it again. I just," she stood from leaning against the shelves, "I don't know who else to talk to about that, or who could better help me understand the dynamic between-"

"A vampire and their human," Willow said, finally understanding what her best friend was truly worried about. "Buffy, you're not—You wouldn't go there, not in real life. Dreams can sometimes delve into our deepest fears and desires. Things we would never do, but sometimes consider for just a moment. Just long enough for our subconscious to grab a hold of it and twist it enough to change our whole world in our dreams."

"I'm not so worried about it going that far, but I don't think it's a good idea for me to go about this with a blind fold on, either. Talking to any other vampire is out of the question, and Angel knows me, so maybe he can help me better understand the relationship Faith and I have in my dreams. That way I can deal with the real situation a little better, or at least consciously deal with it." There needed to be some kind of change, she was tired of feeling like a pawn in a game she didn't understand.

* * *

Faith turned over on her couch, laying on her stomach to stare at her television. She tried to pay attention to whatever new accomplishment the political vamps were going on and on about, but her mind kept taking her back to the previous night. During the day she had found peace in her deep slumber, but now that she was awake again her mind was consumed with thoughts and images of none other than Buffy Summers. As if her life wasn't already a complicated ball of chaos, which she had actually grown quite used to being tame for the first time in her undead life, or even her actual life because it too was far from spa like, now she had to worry about whatever thing was going on between her and Buffy.

She could still hear the sounds of the slayer's moans, feel the vibrations from the chest beneath her as Buffy desperately tried to catch her breath. The way the other woman's heart pounded so hard that Faith felt it as if it were her own; the way Buffy's hips moved against her, rising to meet her every thrust. She could still smell the woman's sweat and arousal all around her, and she knew it wasn't just because she had yet to shower. It was because they were so completely unforgettable. The sweetness with a pinch of something sour, something pungent.

The attraction was something she found understandable. The woman was tough. Strong-headed and fearless. All night she had watched her take out one vamp after another, never losing her step, never showing any sign of doubt in the outcome of each fight. Then there was the fact that she was gorgeous, and Faith was far from blind. But what she was far from was the type of person to obsess over another person. She had never met anyone she couldn't get off her mind after fucking them. It just wasn't her. But Buffy was starting to prove otherwise.

Sensing an arrival, she looked to the door. "Come in," she called before they could even knock.

The sound of a key unlocking the door filled the room, and then Paul walked in with a brown bag in his hands and a smile on his face. "I bring presents from Miha."

Faith laughed, sitting up slowly. "You know she'd kill you if you ever called her that, right?"

"Yeah, I tried it once...didn't go so well. Something about the ridiculousness of modern day culture and it's obsession with nicknames." He walked into the kitchen and retrieved two glasses from a cabinet. "So, how was your night?"

Getting up from the couch she went to lean on a wall outside the kitchen, watching as Paul pulled a bottle out of the bag as well as some strawberries. "Wow, she's going all out tonight. Sending actual food too."

"Actually, I think it's so we'll ignore who's blood it is," Paul said, pouring both of them a glass. "Smell familiar?" he asked handing her a glass, heading towards the couch knowing she'd follow.

Faith sniffed the glass, her nose scrunching instantly. "Lucy," she said, sitting down beside her prodigy.

"Bingo."

"So, what, she's part of the family now?" She wasn't so fond of the little brat, nor Mihaela's reasons for letting her begin trials for joining the family, but her maker was in charge and that was that at the end of the night. It was a long time coming considering everything that had happened since they met the blonde.

Paul took a big gulp, licking over his lips and marveling at the taste. There was even a slight sparkle in his eyes. The feel of Lucy's blood was like nothing else he'd experienced, and though he didn't care for her either, Lucy's blood was definitely something he wouldn't mind having access to. "No, not yet. She came to the hotel right before I left, got us all caught up on what happened at the club that she wasn't supposed to be at in the first place. Mihaela thought it would be better if we all had a bit of her blood in our system, just in case she needs help at some point. I tried to argue, but then Miha pointed out the fact that Lucy has gotten all of us out of plenty of situations, so it was only fair."

Faith scoffed, taking a sip of the blood. "She only did those things because Mihaela asked her to."

"Well that's pretty much why all of us get up at dusk, so I can't really say anything," Paul laughed. He sat back on the couch, crossing his legs in a rather feminine manner and taking one of Faith's hands into his own to place a kiss on it. When his nostrils were filled with an unfamiliar and yet familiar scent, he stopped short of kissing her hand, raising a brow at her. "You didn't," he said in a speculating tone.

A big grin spread across her lips and he burst into laughter. "I may have gotten a little carried away last night," she admitted. "But who doesn't on a mission?"

"True true. I have had my fair share of 'carried away' moments out there. How was it?" he asked, sitting up excitedly. "How was she? Did you feed from her? Is she any good? She doesn't look like it." He frowned. "Too small for my taste."

"Uh, yeah. She's not 6'1'' with a thirty inch waist, and eight inch cock. Or, you know...me." After taking another drink, this time more of a swallow than a sip, she relaxed into the couch as she decided what exactly she was going to say to Paul. In reality she knew it would be easier to talk to him about Buffy than it would be to talk to Mihaela, who was in love with her. "It was...fucking raw and animalistic. I couldn't even control myself."

"Oooh, sounds like my kind of night. Was she just as rough?" he asked, knowing that not many could keep up with Faith when she really let herself go. Really, no one could. He started to wonder if his maker ever had full blown sex with anyone other than Mihaela, being as freakishly strong as she was. "Or should I say, rough enough for your taste? And please do not avoid the feeding question, because I've always wondered if she'd taste different. You know, being a pure slayer. Naturally called and everything. Hmm," he thought for a moment. "Do you think her dying has changed the way she tasted, like with us?"

"Kid, you're going to have to keep your questions to a minimal. I'm losing track of them already." Spending quality time with Paul was always something she could appreciate. He was tough as nails and vicious as fuck when you needed him to be, but then he could turn into a chatter box and she'd feel like she was coming closer than she ever had before to having one of those sleepovers she had always heard about as a child. It wasn't like she could invite anyone over to her mother's place, that's for sure. "First off, I didn't feed from her. Mihaela told me that probably wouldn't be such a good idea, for some reason." Something she now knew she was going to question on a later date. "And I doubt her dying would change her much, because she's technically still alive, but something's not right about her at the same time. She smells like something more than a slayer. Anyways, I don't know how good she is either. I didn't even really let her touch me."

"What now?" Paul asked, frowning. "What do you mean you didn't let her touch you?" Suddenly he was excited again. "You totally wanted to show her who was boss, right? A little s&m," he grinned.

Faith laughed at his enthusiasm. She wasn't foreign to that realm of thinking, lots of humans were really into that when they slept with vampires, and she wasn't one to say no to sexual adventures. But what happened in the cemetery hadn't been a conscious decision, and that's what bothered her about it. "It wasn't like that," she said with a shake of her head.

Paul huffed, sitting back with a look of disappointment. "Bummer. I could totally see the attraction if she was into something like that."

"Maybe she is, I don't know. She didn't complain or anything, but she did try to cop a few feels here and there." She pictured herself biting the slayer every time those warm hands tried to touch her intimately, once again hearing her whimpers and moans. "It's not that I didn't want her to touch me." Her body had been screaming for it. "It was like I was pulled into this zone. Something inside me just..." She couldn't even find the words, she had never felt anything like it before. "This sort of instinct laced with a need for possession."

"Possession?" Paul questioned, deciding to set his glass of blood on the table beside the couch. He eyed his maker curiously. "So, you're telling me that you didn't feed from the original slayer when you had the chance, you wouldn't let her fuck you, and you weren't just trying to dominate her?"

She stared at him for a moment. "Paul..." she warned. "Don't even let your mind go there, or I swear to-"

"Mihaela told me that sometimes you just know, but this—this is too fucking much. I mean, you just started a ritual that most of us don't even know about, and those of us that do don't stick to it at all. Why do that when you can go the easy route like everyone else? Including you, usually. Or at least, where I'm concerned."

"Paul, just because-"

"Uh yes, just because. Because you don't lose control in those situations. Ever. In fact, you took a long ass time staying away from the lesser forms of creation so you wouldn't. You didn't even feed from her, and you know why? Don't you dare say it's because of Miha," he said just as Faith was about to respond. "First, because phase one is all about physical possession. Second, because she didn't give you permission to. You know what that means?"

"Absolutely fucking nothing, that's what _that_ means," she said, angrily.

"Wrong, my sexy naïve maker. Wrong. But, if you want to ignore it that's you. I for one would see it as a golden opportunity to end whatever possible chaos that's about to sweep through Boston. Please," he said, with an over enthused smile. "Tell me, how exactly did she react to what happened last night."

"She was fine when I dropped her off at the academy. Let me tell you, I was pissed to leave the car behind."

_"I'm so tempted to just carry you there, so I can get home and eat," Faith said, looking over at the slayer walking beside her. "You walk at a snails pace."_

_"Compared to you, sure. But the average person would say this is a normal, slightly sped up stroll," she joked. _

_For some reason Faith thought that was funny, or maybe she was just glad to have their silence finally broken. She was worried that the slayer was going to be awkward around her from that point on, which she could find slightly understandable because she was still trying to figure out what happened in the graveyard too. _

_"So, I was wondering," Buffy began. "You said that you used to have the dreams too, so that means you knew who I was at the club, right?"_

_She should have predicted the whole dreams thing would come up, but it was just one more thing on the list of unexpected aspects of the night. "I wasn't sure at first, the hair kind of threw me off, but yeah. I knew it was you."_

_"What were they like? The dreams, I mean. Mine are always so different, and yet the same overall, if I really think about it," she said with a sarcastic sounding laugh._

_"Mine were always violent, very dark most of the time. They were pretty much just constant nightmares, confusing as fuck, but I hear that's the norm for slayer dreams." She thought back to the countless nights of tormenting nightmares, and sure there had been a few calmer moments, especially before her maker was killed but even then she hadn't been so fond of them. They brought her comfort in a sense that she wasn't alone, but a lot of the time she just felt the distance between them intensify. She guessed it was because eventually they would be so different from one another, while also being the same in one way. The slayer still lived within her, after all. "Yours?" she asked._

_Buffy had stared at her for a long while without saying a word, and then she shrugged. "The same."_

"After that we just started talking about all these awesome kills we've had over the years. No more serious talk, or at least, not until I challenged her decision making skillsby pointing out the fact that she's a moron for being so careless around me. By which I meant, being around me at all," she finished, finishing off her glass of blood as well.

Paul grabbed her glass, heading towards the kitchen to refill it. "And that my friend is called a defense mechanism. I'll grab the strawberries."


	9. Nightfall on a Full Moon

Alright, well freak weather has given me a bit more time to get this put together, and homework be damned because it's stupid anyways (no worries, I shall do it...eventually, which consequently means—on time). This chapter was originally going to be much longer, and jump to some great excitement, but it just didn't feel write with what I have below, so I'm going to go ahead and make it two parts basically. Thanks so much for the reviews, I know my time to time updating makes it a little difficult to keep with the excitement, which typically leads to reviewing, so I hope you all enjoy this quick update. Thanks again to my beta.

P.S. I hope all you btvs fans aren't too bothered by my indulgence in my own characters.

Chapter Nine: Nightfall on a Full Moon

Lucy gripped the sheets beneath her, knuckles white and arms shaking as she struggled to hold herself up, the cold hand snaking around her waist providing no ease as two other fingers worked inside her. Her thighs burned as she held her knees planted in place, bursts of breaths escaping her lungs. She could feel a cold tongue move up her spine, hairs tickling her back as said tongue reached her neck, making her shiver as her walls tightened.

"Not there," she managed, as if she even had to say it. But given what night it was, no temptation could be left unaddressed, because she sure as hell wanted it. A fang-less bite on her shoulder blade made her whimper, and despite her wobbling arms, she moved a hand on top of the one on her waist, gripping their icy fingers. It wasn't long before her other arm gave out and she found herself calling their name into sweet smelling pillows as her body shook with pleasure.

"You've been denying yourself in more ways than I would have expected," Mihaela said, placing butterfly kisses on the girl's back. "Surely you people still masturbate."

Lucy laughed, and could feel the ancient vampires lips curve in her own amusement. After taking a few more moments to recover, she moved to lay on her back, biting her bottom lip as the fingers within were finally removed. Mihaela propped herself up on one elbow, laying with half her body on top of Lucy's, a cold leg placed between hers. She reached up to move strands of hair behind the ancient vampire's ear, trying to get a better look into her hypnotizing eyes. "Nothing's as good as the real thing," she smiled before leaning up to place a soft kiss on the woman's lips. "At least not with you."

"Age can do that to you when you're not wrinkling and falling apart," Mihaela said, looking down at the hand she had placed on Lucy's stomach. She could subtly feel the muscles that lay beneath the girl's skin, the way they rippled and flexed beneath her touch, the underlying power that lay within them. "I love how warm you are." She grinned, glancing up at Lucy before continuing to watch her fingers move across the blonde's soft skin.

Watching Mihaela intently, Lucy found herself in the same predicament she was starting to recognize as unavoidable and worrisome. From where she was, the curiosity and fascination playing across the woman's features gave flecks of hope of one day being more than what she was to Mihaela; more than just a helping hand, occasional dinner, and possible future family member. Sure, the ancient vampire's acceptance and willingness to even be open to her being in the family meant a lot. It made her happier than anything, but it wasn't what would maker her happiest.

One of the things she hated most about her agreement to follow strict tradition in joining the family, was that she couldn't touch Mihaela. At least, not intimately. At first, that seemed like an easy prospect. Mihaela could have her way with her repeatedly, and she could bask, and then bask some more. However, after time passed, not being able to 'return the favor' became a complete annoyance, and the biggest trial of them all, as it turned out. Then there was the fact that she was hardly even around the ancient vampire. She was starting to wonder just how much longer she'd have to endure the whole process of joining the family before she actually became a member.

"How much longer do I have to stay at the academy?" she asked. Not only was she growing tired of her mission, and the constant going back and forth between being her usual self and a submissive soldier, she was also frustrated with never being around the family she was supposed to join. As if she weren't already an outsider, being what she was. Knowing full well that Mihaela's family was very different from ordinary vampire families, not only in terms of the diversity in levels of power, but also in terms of how much time they spent apart, and Mihaela's taking care of vampires that aren't her children, she tried her best to blend in but it was practically impossible. The name Mother Mihaela was no mystery to her, and it definitely wasn't just because the woman was extremely old.

"I'm not sure," Mihaela answered, placing an ear on Lucy's chest. "Faith should be coming to see me soon, I've sent Paul with your blood, and he's supposed to have her report to me when they're done."

Lucy sighed. "Great." Another part of the problem was that she didn't particularly like the other members of the family, but that was partly because they refused to like her. She was tolerated, and Faith barely acknowledged her presence when they were all together. "Maybe I should get going then."

"Stay for a moment," she said softly and feeling Lucy relax into the bed she shifted so she was higher up than the blonde, pulling her into an embrace so Lucy's face was placed in the crook of her neck. "Once I hear what Faith has to say, I'll know what to do next."

"I still don't understand why you wanted Buffy Summers to come here. Bringing the slayers into all of this might cause a big problem in the end. Mimi Hampton said something earlier, about the slayers sticking together, and it just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know if they'll trust Buffy's judgment when they find out she's been seeing Faith without telling them. I know I'd be pissed. There's definitely something going on between the two of them," she said that cautiously, unsure of how the vampire beside her would react, but as usual the woman seemed un-phased by Lucy's updates.

"We need to know who to trust, and who has the better judgment, the slayers or their leader. Push comes to shove, we have more allies to call upon," she reminded.

"Will we?" Lucy questioned, sitting up slightly. "I think you seriously-" she stopped, feeling a new presence and hearing a door quietly open. Sighing heavily, she got out of bed. "I didn't even have time to shower," she mumbled. "Look, I think we should take a step back before everything gets out of hand. You can't depend on me for everything." It was the first time she had had the guts to say it, but it was the truth. "I'm not as accepted in my world as you think, not after this. I chose you over-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Faith said, walking into the room without knocking. Mihaela gave her a look, and she understood that her barging in was not something Lucy would appreciate, but she wasn't concerned with the blonde slayer's feelings, and she actually found the girl quite entertaining. She was always so easily bothered by Faith's presence. For obvious reasons. "I would have stopped by later, but I have plans." Plans with Buffy, that Buffy didn't know about. "Mind skipping out early?" she asked, watching as Lucy quickly got dressed.

"I was leaving soon, anyways," Lucy said, pulling up her tight black jeans. One of the other pluses of meeting up with Mihaela was that she could change into her more comfortable attire. Not that she didn't love her sundresses and sweaters, which she had picked out for herself, she just hadn't worn that type of southern girl clothing in years and though she had missed it, it was not the night to reflect on childhood memories. "Nice job last night, by the way. I had to take shit from that asshole head slayer again, this morning."

"You shouldn't have been there, Paul told you to head out to-"

"Yeah, and Paul's who's boss again? You sent out that order, and I'm sorry to tell you but you don't control where I do and don't go. I'm starting to think that you just wanted to spend some quality time with-"

"Enough," Mihaela said, bored of their banter. "Will you two ever get along?"

After pulling her white tank over her black one, Lucy grabbed her jacket and slid her feet into her black boots that hugged her calves till just below the knee. "Probably not. She's a bitch."

Faith winked. "Takes one to know one." She barked as Lucy left the room, and then laughed at the low growl she heard in return before turning to Mihaela. "What?"

* * *

_Buffy sat in one of the conference rooms, tapping her fingers on the long wooden table. She bobbed slightly, pushing against the back of her seat in even back and forth motions, adding quiet squeaks to the sounds of her tapping fingers. Once again, she felt like she had been waiting for hours. People always kept her waiting. Even when she went on patrol she had to wait for her enemy to show its face. That was, unless she was hunting __**it**__ down, but not much hunting had been done of late. No, she had long turned into the type of prey that stalked in the shadows, perched and ready to strike. _

_"What are you thinking about?"_

_A hand slid down her shoulder, but she didn't dare look to see who it was. She already knew, anyways. There was no mistaking that husky voice. "Hunting," she answered, keeping her eyes level as they moved to stand beside her. "What __are you doing here?" They didn't answer, but instead turned her chair so that it was facing away from the table. It was at this moment that Buffy finally looked up and met Faith's sultry gaze. "You shouldn't be here," she warned._

_"And you should?" Faith asked as she lowered herself to her knees, letting her hand on the chair casually play across Buffy's chest, then stomach, until it rested on the slayer's thigh. "There are other things you could be doing." Her hand moved up slowly, her fingers stopping to brush Buffy's zipper._

_She stared down at Faith, who was now cutting her eyes up at her as she toyed with the seam of her jeans. Her heart had already decided to work against her, beating heavier in her chest as she kept a calm demeanor. But she knew that Faith couldn't be so easily fooled. "Yeah?"_

_Faith nodded, reaching with both hands to pop open the button of the other woman's jeans before slowly unzipping them. "Definitely." Her hands moved to Buffy's waist line, grabbing onto the top of the woman's jeans and the panties that laid beneath them to slowly pull them down, a smirk working across her lips as Buffy lifted her hips._

_Still managing to keep her calmness, though now she herself was wondering how, she moved her hands to the arm rests of her chair, watching as Faith's hands slid up the length of her legs. The grazing fingers gave the feeling of sparks of electricity under her skin, taunting and threatening to burst. Anticipating what would come next, she shifted her hips further up the chair, expecting Faith's head to slowly be lowered into her lap, but Faith didn't move. The hands on her thighs stayed just where they were._

_Buffy frowned. "What are you waiting for?"_

_Faith chuckled. "What are __**you **__waiting for?" She paused. "T-"_

"Sorry about the wait."

Buffy's eyes snapped open and she nearly pushed her chair back too far, further pushing her into a panic.

"Are you okay? Were you...sleeping?"

Turning her eyes to the large screen in the room, her eyes landed on a worried looking Angel. "Oh, yeah. I must have drifted off." She cleared her throat and hoped her heart would stop pounding in her chest; too bad she wasn't able to keep that calm demeanor in real life. "Wow. How are you?" It had been a long time since they had talked, almost a year really. After things in LA, Angel had taken an interest in finding out which vampires were genuinely interested in becoming citizens again, and eventually he was given a position within the vampire government to do just that. He was a busy man, and Buffy found the bubble which the government vampires lived in, very off putting. It's not that she didn't trust that some vampires were actually interested in becoming more than a monster, she just couldn't spend more than an hour surrounded by all of them in their recently built establishment.

"Good. Busy, but good. We're trying to get a count on the number of people presumed dead over the years when they were really just turned. It'll help us in our argument against vampires overfeeding off the population." He sat back in his chair. "How's Boston."

"Pretty much like Scotland. Cold." She laughed, and so did he. "But there are a few differences. Mostly the buildings, I had almost forgotten what an actual city looks like. Too many days on the pasture, I guess."

"That will do it to ya," he said with a light smile.

She looked down, her fingers toying with the end of her shirt. "I guess so."

"But, I have a feeling you didn't contact me about your new habit of counting sheep. What's going on, Buffy?" he asked, his face sliding back into worry. "I've been hearing a few things about Boston, very unexpected things that probably shouldn't reach these walls."

Buffy scoffed. "Figures." If there was one thing she had learned over the years, it was that slayers _loved _to gossip, and she wasn't exempt from that pool. Many times she had found herself in Willow's office discussing what she had heard about one of their slayer students. But what teacher didn't talk about their students, seriously? "So you've heard about-" She paused, taking his words into consideration. They needed to be careful. "the object here?"

"It's true?" he asked, shocked to have such information confirmed. "Have you seen it?"

She nodded. "I have."

"And there's no doubt in your mind that it's from both worlds?" After she nodded in response, he reached in his desk, pulling out what looked like a small duck. "Someone has been leaking a bit of information out into the public, but luckily it hasn't been spread too far. Yet. I need to know everything that's going on, if the vampire government found out there's a vampire out there who's also a slayer they'll want to use her for show, and I don't think the rest of the vampire world would take too kindly to knowing there's a half-breed out there."

"First," she said, staring at the small yellow duck on his desk which she assumed was made of porcelain. "What's with the duck?"

He sighed. "I asked my secretary to find me something that could block any possible outside signal that could be listening in on my office, that could also protect against mind reading, and a few other magical ways of gathering information. I told her it needed to be something discreet, and this is what she decided on," he said, gesturing towards the duck.

"Huh." They were both silent for a moment, then she shrugged it off. "Her name is Faith Lehane, she was called after Kendra, and after her watcher was killed by a vamp named Kakistos, she decided to take a bit of revenge and then vanished. The Council thought she was dead, like really dead, when it turns out she was turned by a vampire named Mihaela Jochem-Krasovec."

"Mother Mihaela."

"The one and only. I'm guessing she's a big player, after all, since you know who she is too." The question was, how the hell did she not know who this woman was? Everyone _but_ her seemed to know.

"Well, she would be, but she's dead. A few years ago the elders got together to punish her for slaughtering vampires along the east coast. They tortured her, and then buried her alive," he said, sure of his words. "In 2001, when they were finally able to catch her, they found her in a house full of dismembered college students, along with a few vampires that were drained beyond recovery. Not to mention a few piles of dust from the ones that died all together. The elders were outraged."

For Buffy, a few memories had been triggered. Memories that were from her dreams, not real life. "Did they burn her alive?" she asked, remembering watching as the figure watched someone be burnt to a crisp, hanging high in the air. "With her somehow hanging in the air?"

Angel frowned. "From what I've been told, yes. But it was because of the magic she harnessed that she hung in the air like that. There are many tales of her doing a lot of unexplainable things, and holding the knowledge of a high priestess as well as an ancient vampire. They shouldn't have even been able to hold her prisoner for as long as they did."

"I've got news for you, she's not dead." There were things swirling around her brain, dreams that were starting to make a bit more sense. "Faith must have saved her," she informed, thinking back to Faith tossing her in the grave at the end of the dream. She remembered it so vividly because she herself had just risen from the grave, and she had woken up terrified of what the dream meant, so maybe like her Mihaela too had beat all odds and was brought back, just not with the help of a witch like she herself had. "I don't know how or why, but she's very much alive according to a slayer here, and Faith from what I can tell."

"You've talked to her?"

"Mihaela? No, not yet at least, but Faith-"

"I meant Faith, Buffy," he interrupted. "You've had contact with her."

Suddenly she wished she would have brought a glass of water with her. _Lots of contact_, she thought, but instead of saying that she cleared her throat. "I've had...contact with her multiple times."

"Does she have a soul?" he asked.

"I don't know, she won't tell me and I was trying to avoid going straight into asking Willow to do a spell until I could better assess the situation. It seemed less intrusive that way. Having a big ball of light consume you can tend to be a bit much when you don't know what's going on." There were many spells that had gone wrong at the academy in Scotland, and each time they were accidentally directed towards her it had felt like an extreme invasion of privacy. Perhaps that was because the spells were more involving sexual things like—who had the most sexual tension in their body, or something to that effect. Willow's explanation may have been ignored as she tried not to kill the slayer that had basically informed the whole campus of her lack of a sex life that year. She wasn't aware magic could be so...perverted.

"How does she behave? Has she told you anything about what's been going on in her life since she was presumed dead?"

"She's cocky, crude, and bossy. Not to mention extremely fast, and powerful. And no, she hasn't told me anything about her life. But, she agreed that if I met up with her five times, she'd introduce me to Mihaela who I think can tell us a bit more about the recent spike in vamp activity here. At first, it was like someone was trying to get me to think that Faith was the leader, or at least connected to the leader, but after going to some underground club with her last night-"

"You went to a club with her? What team did you take as backup?" he asked, a bit shocked. Having contact with the slayer-vampire was one thing, going into vampire territory with her was another.

Shifting in her chair, she again wished for that glass of water and even considered tapping into her telepathic skills to get Willow to bring her a glass, but alas she remembered the witch was busy testing a few of the junior slayers' blood. Eventually, someone was going to come in and tell her that it was her turn to be tested. "Team Buffy."

"Buffy..."

"Dawn was there," she sputtered. "And Lucy. Another slayer."

He sighed. "I know you like to handle things yourself, Buffy, but-"

"It's not that, it's just that I have to do things on Faith's terms in order to meet Mihaela, and she said no backup. Not that any amount of backup could possibly help protect me from her. She's looking to be a bit on the unstoppable side of things. Willow's already threatened to take over if things go to the bad. Er, worse."

"The teams may not be able to help protect you against Faith, supposedly, but they definitely could have helped protect you from the other vampires and demons in the club, and I think I know which club you're talking about. Did it happen to collapse from a fire last night?" Buffy simply nodded, and he shook his head. "Not a place you want to go to alone. It could have been a trap."

"Sure, it could have been a trap, but it wasn't. And the vampires we talked to there seemed to like her just as much as they liked me. Though, at least they actually talked to her, instead of pretending she wasn't in the room. I'm seriously doubting she has anything to do with this army, a group of vampires have attacked her twice, and I think the ones that followed us from the club last night are part of the same group. They could be our army, and if they are, they want Faith dead."

"You seem very sure of what you're saying, does that mean that you trust Faith as an ally? Because that's a serious leap with her maker being who she is. Don't let the title of mother full you, that woman has a history of doing things you don't want to get mixed up in, whether you're a human, a vampire, or a slayer. She is very dangerous, and Faith being her child could mean that she's very dangerous, and not just because she's a slayer-vampire."

Taking a deep breath, she shook her head. "I don't know. Things are a bit complicated." This was it, the moment she'd have to tell him why she really called upon him, not that he wasn't helpful in other ways, it was just not like her to call upon him for anything really. "For years now, I've been having these dreams...about Faith."

Angel stared at her for a moment. "What kind of dreams?"

"Lots of kinds. All kinds. At first, I thought she was you, because I couldn't see her face but a while back her face was revealed and then I thought she wasn't real, but it turns out she is." The details of her dreams were a bit much even for her, and she found it very difficult to push herself to actually tell him the truth, but even with what little conversation they had over the subject, things had become clearer, and that was the whole point in turning to Angel. "The truth is, when they're not disturbingly violent, they're sexually graphic." She stopped, waiting to see if he would say anything, but he didn't and as usual it was practically impossible to tell what he was thinking when he kept the same expression. "When I thought it was you, I was okay with the violent turn they took, or would start at. I kept thinking that maybe I was dreaming of a time we could be together, a time when the whole good and evil thing didn't matter anymore, so I was okay with all the horrible things that happened. But now, it scares me to think that way, especially since..."

"Since, what?" he asked, when she didn't continue.

She licked her dry lips, making sure to look anywhere but at Angel. "We had sex." There it was, the point of no return. Her first love now knew about her most recent activity with vampires, and she couldn't help but wonder if he, like Kennedy, saw a pattern developing. "Faith and I, we had sex. Or, well...not so much we, because she wouldn't let me touch her at all." She flinched. "Details I didn't mean to share."

"Did you let her drink from you?" he asked.

"God, no," she huffed.

"Did she ask for your permission to drink from you?"

Buffy frowned. "What's with the feeding questions? Of course she didn't ask. Do vampires even do that, like ever?"

"Sometimes they do, actually. We're trying to make that a new policy." He ignored her rolling of the eyes. "Listen, Faith being the child of Mother Mihaela means that she inherits a few of her traits, and possibly even a few of her memories. She is a very ancient vampire, and the time she comes from was very different than ours. There weren't as many vampires that came from a human dying, like there is now, and so they held traditions to select the best of the best. From these traditions, rituals were formed. Most of which are ignored or unknown to our kind now. I've actually learned a few things myself over the last few years from the elders that are part of the Vampire League of Justice."

There wasn't a day she didn't find that title ridiculous. "I was a little worried, because of the dreams, that maybe this had to do with the whole vampire having a human thing."

"And from the sounds of it, you may not be too far off, though it may go a bit further than you simply being her human. It's completely possible that she's just fooling around with you, toying with you even, but there's also the possibility that she's following in her makers footsteps."

"You think she wants to turn me?" she asked, horrified. Being Faith's human was one thing, being turned into a vampire was another, especially if it was just so she could follow in her _mother's _footsteps.

"Not exactly. The possible upside to her being Mihaela's child, and not some young vampire's, is that if she is following tradition, you'll have a choice. You can reject her entirely, become her human, or let her turn you. The question is whether your rejection would lead to her killing you."

"Great," Buffy mumbled. That was all she needed, to die. Again. Then again, she couldn't really picture Faith killing her because of rejection, which would mean that the slayer-vampire would have to break out of her non-reactant mode. She'd have to actually be phased by something other than a threat or insult towards Mihaela, and that just didn't seem possible.

"It means she may actually respect you as a candidate, since she didn't just take what she wanted-"

_Oh, but she did, _Buffy thought.

"What you need to do is try to gain the upper hand in whatever is going on between the two of you, which—I've gotta say is not a good idea, at all. This could go wrong in so many ways, and you doing things on her terms just makes things more dangerous for you. When you try to gain the upper hand, even in the slightest bit, and she doesn't bend then you need to question her motives in all of this. In talking to you, in not killing you, and in bringing you to the most important person in her life, she could just be luring you into trusting her so you will join her and her family, and once you go there you can't turn back. Do you know if she shares the dreams with you?" He too knew about the fact that slayers across the world sometimes crossed each others' paths in their sleep; they shared dreams more often than they realized.

"She said that she used to, but apparently Mihaela did some kind of spell to get rid of them." A spell that she now realized she should have mentioned to Willow earlier. With what had happened at the club, and in the cemetery, she had forgot to mention what she should have mentioned first. Faith used to have the dreams, and she still would if a spell hadn't been cast to prevent it from happening.

"Hmm." He took out a pen, quickly jotting something down. "You should look into these dreams, I know a guy who might be able to help you figure out what spell was used, and what the dreams may mean. Dreams aren't something you can just make vanish into thin air. The subconscious is always working, no matter what, so either the dreams are buried inside of her, or they're sent somewhere else. I'll have someone contact you with his information."

She smiled weakly. "Thanks. Not just for the info, either. I know this conversation isn't exactly one that you-"

"Buffy, it's fine." He picked up the small duck on his desk, opening up his drawer to put it back in its hiding place. "Just be careful."

* * *

Willow shook her head. "Nothing," she said, rising from the floor. "Thanks Vi, you can go. Oh, and can you have someone send Buffy up?" The other woman nodded in response, and left the room, leaving Willow and Kennedy alone. That was the last of her test subjects out of the ten junior slayers she had listed. Of course, she had also used Kennedy's blood only to find that it wasn't able to break any spell she put into place, and that it contained the same magic that every other junior slayer had within them.

"Do you think maybe you're doing it wrong?" Kennedy asked, but she quickly backtracked seeing the appalled look on her girlfriend's face. "Or, not wrong, but maybe the wrong spell."

"Maybe," Willow admitted. "But from the exact account of what happened in the interrogation room, I just don't see how that's possible. Faith didn't have the time to do a spell that complicated so quickly, and I don't really think she possesses the power necessary to perform anything at that level, anyways. There are some spells, and some things that I can just make happen, but I seriously doubt that Faith is even close to my level in the realm of magic." She sighed, going to pick up a book to flip through a few pages. "Hopefully, Buffy's blood will shed some light on a few things. It was her blood, after all."

Kennedy walked over to the shelf in the room, running her fingers over a few books that were already starting to collect dust. Try as they may, a slayer would always love the field more than shapes on the floor, and magical chants. Most of them did, at least. "Speaking of Buffy's blood..." She looked over at Willow. "We have to do something about about Buffy and Faith fucking."

"Kennedy," Willow hissed. "Someone could hear you." She said a few words under her breath, hoping that no one overheard her girlfriend's blunt statement.

Figuring that the mumbling she heard was Willow putting a spell in place, Kennedy continued. "If the other slayers find out that she's sneaking away to have sex with our biggest threat-"

"She may not be our biggest threat," the redhead pointed out.

"And that's not the point," Kennedy said with a sarcastic scoff and a roll of her eyes. She turned completely away from the shelf. "She's sneaking around with someone who could be our biggest enemy, and she's not even telling her team, or the slayers that live here who almost got themselves killed trying to protect her the other night. Her lying like this is not going to end well. We slayers stick together, and this all looks really bad on her part."

Because she knew about the dreams Buffy had over the years, she had found herself at odds with the whole Buffy and Faith situation. On the one hand she was seriously concerned with her friend's judgments when it came to vampires and romance; first Angel, then Spike, and now Faith. It was easy to see how the other slayers would question her, even with the rising awareness of the fact that not all vampires were monsters. But on the other hand, she herself was curious. With all the dreams Buffy had had over the years, she couldn't help but wonder what it all meant, and whether it was something bigger than what could be seen by the average person. Like all the other slayer dreams that were had.

"I know it does," Willow finally said. "And she shouldn't be sneaking around, but you can't tell me that her marching downstairs and coming clean wouldn't have the same effect. There are probably only a hand full of slayers out there who don't stick with the simple—slayer, vampire, stake—method."

"Okay, fine. I can admit that most of us are a bit close minded, but we're kind of possessed by this thing that was created to kill demons, and vampires happen to fall under that category. Even beyond that though," she added, sure that Willow would have the perfect counter statement, as usual. "What about the fact that she's going above and beyond in the danger category. Yes, a slayer goes out every night and risks her life, but it just seems like Buffy spending time with Faith is a bit too much, especially when they're having sex. We don't even know this Faith woman well enough to let her on the grounds, let alone in Buffy's pants. Don't you worry that she won't come back? That Faith is just keeping up this act and toying with your best friend?"

"Of course I do," she answered, defensively. "And you know that I do. But I've also known Buffy a lot longer than you have, and I know that I can typically trust that she knows what she's doing out there. Along with whom she's doing it with. It's not like Buffy just goes out and has sex with anyone and everyone, which by the way—way more dangerous than people really take into consideration. Tell me, did you know the history of every girl you've slept with?"

Kennedy shook her head. "No."

"So how do you know that you haven't slept with some demon and didn't know it, or some psychotic human even? Humans can be just as cruel and dangerous, trust me." Along with being proof of that herself, she could also look at the source of her fast descent into the black arts; a crazed human. "I'm scared, too." Whether Kennedy could admit it or not, she knew the brunette was worried about Buffy. They had worked and lived together for years, and despite their lack of any kind of affection for one another, she knew they had grown accustomed to having the other around, to a point of even liking each other. "But for lack of a better word," she said approaching the younger woman, putting her arms around her neck as Kennedy's arms found their place around her waist. "I have faith, and so should you."

A light smile formed on the slayer's lips as she tilted her head to place a soft kiss on the redhead's lips. "Okay."

"Okay?" Willow asked, returning the light smile. Kennedy gave an assured nod, and they broke apart. "Good, now where is my next test subject?"

As she finished the question, Dawn walked in and they both frowned, to her annoyance. "Don't I get to be here when you perform spells on my sister?"

"Of course, Dawnie," Willow said, cheerily.

Kennedy crossed her arms as the room fell into silence, with a few sounds Willow made as she began to set everything up again. Or at least put more out of whatever it was she had used up on the other slayers, Kennedy didn't know. "So...did your sister tell you she's fucking Faith?"

"Kennedy," Willow said glaring at the slayer. "Why?"

The slayer shrugged, "Because she deserves to know."

"Damn right I do," Dawn said, with force. She stood there for a moment, "She's what now?"

"Ah the realization sets in," Kennedy laughed.

Dawn walked over to Willow. "You knew about this, didn't you? Is she crazy?" she asked, cutting the woman off. "It's bad enough she goes out with her _alone _and without telling anyone—except probably you," she added, once again cutting the redhead off. "God, how did I not see this?" She turned, walking back over to where she was standing before. "I should have known something was up when she made it back to the academy on her own, after Faith kidnapped her." Turning to Willow, she gasped. "Was that whole kidnapping thing code for her sexcapades?"

"No," Willow said, sighing as she finally got a word in. "Last night was their first time, I promise."

"Good." She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest as she processed what exactly her sister had been up to when she disappeared with Faith the night before, explaining their extremely late arrival. She and Lucy had gotten into plenty of fights on the way back, but they had made it before the most known slayer and a slayer-vampire. Yes, she should have picked up on it. "So...how was it?"

"Dawn," Willow warned.

"What, a girl can't ask? She gave you some of the details, right? I mean, I don't approve but I am very happy that my sister has you know, gotten laid. It's been a while. Plus, hello...first woman she's ever slept with," Dawn reasoned.

Kennedy grinned. "What, you finding yourself a bit curious? I've been hearing some very interesting things about you and that Lucy chick."

"What?" Willow asked, shocked by what she was hearing. "What about Patrick?"

"Nothing's happened between Lucy and I, it was just an almost kiss. As for Patrick, we're still together-"

"Somehow," Kennedy mumbled. "That guy is lame, and I can never understand a word he says. I'd want to switch teams too."

Dawn scoffed. "It's not like I've never slept with a woman."

"Come again," Buffy said, getting their attention. She stood just inside the doorway, unsure of what she had just heard. "Did you just say that you've slept with a woman."

Not that she was ashamed or anything, but she really hadn't meant for her sister to become aware of that little fact just yet. "You slept with Faith," she blurted in defense, "So, ha."

Buffy looked to her best friend. "Willow, you told her?"

"No, I swear. I didn't tell her," she said shaking her head frantically as she lifted her hand to point to Kennedy. "She did it."


End file.
